Carol of the Bells
by Neko-chan4
Summary: [AU/Futuristic Kurtty] Nearly 10 years in the future, Kitty finds herself returning to the Institute once more searching for answers & the missing piece in her life. But it's not the Professor that holds her answers, but a certain blue 'elf'...
1. I

Carol of the Bells 

By Nichole (Neko-chan) Johnson

Written: May 14, 2003

Rated: PG (may go up)

Pairings: Mainly Kurt/Kitty; canon pairings mentioned (Scott/Jean, Rogue/Remy)

Disclaimer: I don't own either the _X-Men: Evolution_ series or the _X-Men_ in general.  Each is the respective property of Warner Bros. and Marvel.

Author's Notes: This being my first _X-Men: Evolution_ fic, or _X-Men fic in general, I hope you'll all excuse any continuity errors on my part.  I have seen the entire first season—though it's been awhile—and the first several episodes of the 2nd season, but have only read the episode summaries from thereon or seen random season 2 & 3 episodes on Adult Swim, so I'm sure I've made some mistakes.  Therefore, I wrote this fic as sort of AU/future-fic, because not only have I not seen the entire series, but I also plan on incorporating elements from the original _X-Men_ comics and animation, as well as the movies.  I'll try to note them in further Author Notes at the end of each chapter when I allude to elements not in the Evo series.  Anyway, reviews would be greatly appreciated!_

Tribute: Inspired by the awesome Nightcrawler fics by **Saille**, specifically those involving Kitty as well (because I love those two—whether romantically involved, or purely platonic.)  This first chapter, as well as the underlying plot of Kitty's return to the Institute is based heavily on her fic, "Cat's Cradle", for which I apologize.  It will move in a different direction, I swear!  But I would still like to thank her, as well as **PallaPlease**, the author of "Angel", (a really good Christmas/future fic) which this idea also heavily mirrors.  I hope neither author takes offense by the obvious similarities between this fic and there's; I was merely inspired by their respective works!

*           *           *

"Home again, home again, jiggity-jig."

_- Mother Goose_

*

She had nearly forgotten how cold New York winters could be.  The wind was biting and harsh up here in the Northeast corner of the country, frosting windows and freezing sidewalks into dangerous pathways, and driving its citizens into excessive bundles of faux fur and heavy down jackets against the cold.

Kitty wished she had been as equally prepared, as she shivered uncomfortably in her stylish yet hardly ample coat.  She drew her collar up higher, stuffing thinly-gloved fingers into the narrow pockets of the tawny pleather; glad for the relative protection of her mane of thick brown hair that spilled over her shoulders, covering her ears from the cold as she gazed up at the familiar iron gates before her.  An expanse of untouched white spread out from beyond the wrought iron bars, sparkling occasionally in the faint gleam of the gate lamps and the welcoming glow that spread out from the great windows of the enormous estate that lay beyond the pristine drifts.  It was at once a daunting and hospitable spectacle, as well as an antecedent for a flood of old memories that arose unbidden at the sight.

Kitty Pryde steeled herself, a momentary bout of hesitation nipping at the back of her mind; an irrational nervousness she couldn't seem to place holding her frozen in place at the unopened gates.

Six years.  It hadn't felt a longtime at first, but in retrospect—as she stood here now facing old, high school memories on the icy walk—it had been a small forever.  In the grand scheme of things, six years was a drop in the bucket… But in six years, so much could change so as to be all but unrecognizable.  Even now, little details—the voices of her friends at the Institute, the smell of the halls—had faded from her mind completely, and she struggled now at the resurfacing memories to place them.

It was like her first arrival at the Institute all over again, for she didn't know what to expect.  And she found herself afraid to upset those pleasant memories with the reality that had overcome her old home.

The world had begun to change; had begun to change before she had even come to the Institute, newly aware of her mutant powers.  At first imperceptible, then sudden and drastic; as she recalled her turbulent freshman and junior years here in Bayville.  But things had quieted down for sometime after that, or so she had thought.  She hadn't really noticed until her last year at college.  She had managed to keep her unusual abilities a secret since leaving the Institute; managed to play the role of the normal college student, to seemingly go about her life in a normal fashion.

But things hadn't been normal.  Things had begun happening on the news.  Strange occurrences; unexplainable occurrences.  The word 'mutant' had begun appearing more and more often on the nightly news, inciting nervous discord amongst the general populace.  On the campus, things had remained relatively the same—the students were generally too wrapped up in their studies, their school politics and approaching careers to take stock of news on the outside world.

It was her senior year that the mutant issue truly made its way on campus.  That was the year that anti-mutant movements had begun to spring up once again and riots and acts of violence against mutants had become a regular occurrence nationwide.  Even after graduation, she had begun to hear stories of anti-mutant violence in Europe, South America, and the Mid-East; where acts of terrorism were daily occurrences ever on the rise.

For the last two years she had begun to feel real fear once again.  Even without the rise of anti-mutant sentiments that had been going on around the world, Kitty had been faced with a dilemma upon graduation.  She had spent the last two years drifting from one job, from one city to the other, unsure of her direction.  To some extent, she had thought that college would give her a direction, a purpose.  But though she had graduated with full marks and an impressive degree, she found herself more lost than she had been before she had even left the Institute.  She had thought that what she wanted was to lead a normal life.  But as the years drifted by, she found she was unsure of just what that was.  She felt stifled everywhere she went; in everything she did.  Something was not right, and she longed for the freedom and self-satisfaction she had felt as a girl amidst the other students at Xavier's Institute.

She wondered if it had been telepathy; wondered if it had been Cerebro that had made her growing fears and discontent apparent to the Professor.  Even so, the call had been both a blessing and a cause for further strife.

She had left the Institute to pursue what she had believed to be normalcy.  And she would return there now to discover whether she had been right in doing so.

As she stood there, contemplating all of this amidst a cloud of vapor formed by her breath, the iron gates squealed softly in protest as they swung slowly open as if to some silent bidding, and again Kitty found herself wondering if the Professor had sensed her anxieties.  Even after all this time, she knew the action was a sign of open invitation, and she smiled softly in appreciation as she took the hint and strode swiftly through the gates; her gait falling quickly into the familiarity of the path.

She glanced around at the familiar, snow-blanketed grounds as she walked, hearing the faint squeal of metal as the gates closed behind her.  She could practically see the shadows of winters' past darting through the pristine drifts; the hollow tinkle of joyful laughter and playful taunts faint in her ears.  A tinge of sorrow settled on her soul; a bittersweet smile settling on her lips as memories mingled with the fearful reality of the present and the sense of loneliness that accompanied both.  A part of her hadn't wanted to come back, but another part had known she had never truly left.  And it hurt to think that things wouldn't be the same.

*           *           *

The entrance hall was just as she remembered it, though a hollowness seemed to echo the great expanse.  But even that was strangely familiar; with Christmas more than a week away, and the students more than likely away on winter vacation, she was reminded vaguely of the sense of stillness that befell the great estate during holidays as a teenager.  Nostalgia hit her hard as she stood on the threshold, drinking in the welcome heat that greeted her.  She half-expected Kurt to swing down from the chandelier and great her in a cloud of sulfurous smoke, white fangs bared in a customary, devilish grin.

But she was greeted only by the continued pall of silence that seemed to hang over the place, and her nostalgic fantasy dissolved as quickly as it had appeared.  The young woman took a few cautious steps further into the room, blue eyes darting about the expanse in idle curiosity as she unbuttoned her coat and slipped out of her icy gloves.

"Hello?  Professor?  Anyone?"

There was the vague sense of a smile in her mind, and then the Professor's warm voice broke through her thoughts.  _[Hello, Kitty.  It has been awhile.]_

Despite her doubts, despite the qualms she had had about returning, Kitty smiled with genuine sincerity, hoping his thoughts would sense it.  "Yeah, I guess it has," she replied, perhaps unnecessarily aloud, but she knew he could hear her answer regardless; just as she knew he could sense the dark cloud of uncertainty in her mind, but she made no effort to conceal it.  To some extent, it had been these fears and doubts that had led him to call her here in the first place.  And it was the desire for guidance that had driven her to heed his invitation in the end.  She was fully aware that no attempts on her part could conceal such an agenda from Xavier's mind had she wanted to do so.

But concealment had not been part of her agenda for this visit.

_[I am sorry I couldn't be there to greet you personally, Kitty, but I am indisposed at the moment.  In the meantime, I have sent Jean to receive you in my place,]_ came Xavier's mental summons once again, breaking Kitty from her thoughts.

The auburn-haired woman frowned slightly at the message.  _[Professor…]_

His thoughts, however, cut off her protest.  _[I understand that you wish to speak with me, Kitty.  But I will have to postpone our conversation for now.  I hope you understand.]_

There was a frustrated pause on Kitty's part, and then she deferred reluctantly; mentally deflating.  _[Of course, Professor.]_

[Good.  In the meantime, Jean and the others are quite enthused to visit with you after all this time, as are you, I'm sure.  I believe that a little catching-up is in good order, don't you agree?]

Kitty's smile was faint, though not ill-tempered.  _[I guess I have been feeling a bit nostalgic as of late...] was her mental reply, hinting of humor.  _We can save the heavy stuff for later,_ she added to herself, knowing that the Professor wouldn't listen in on these thoughts._

She had to admit that a reunion of the old 'crew' held a certain allure to it; couldn't deny that she had missed them all greatly over the past six years, each to their own extent.  And it would be a good chance for her to calm her nerves a bit about her visit to the old place; to relax and gather her thoughts and wits before confronting Xavier about her directional misgivings.  Perhaps all along she had intended for her visit to turn into such a social call.

There were certain old acquaintances she had been longing to see once again; that had occupied her thoughts more often than she was wont to admit in her six-year absence.  Perhaps she wouldn't admit to such hopes aloud, but they were what finally decided her as she willingly gave into the Professor's temporary dismissal.

It seemed just as she was coming to this personal conclusion, a familiar, tall redhead appeared suddenly at the top of the staircase, a welcoming smile on her lips.  Smiling eagerly in return, Kitty moved swiftly to meet her.

~          *           ~

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. II

Carol of the Bells  * II * 

By Nichole (Neko-chan) Johnson

Written: May 16 – 18, 2003

Rated: PG (may go up)

Pairings: Mainly Kurt/Kitty; canon pairings mentioned (Scott/Jean, Rogue/Remy)

Disclaimer: I don't own either the _X-Men: Evolution_ series or the _X-Men_ in general.  Each is the respective property of Warner Bros. and Marvel.

Author's Note: This chapter starts out with a flashback or memory sequence, for those of you who may not get what's going on.  It switches back to the present (or future, but it's the present in this story) after the sequence break (the 3 asterisks).  And yay! Kurt finally appears in this chapter!  Don't worry, you'll be seeing more of him in the next chapter, I promise (he _is_ my fav character, after all.)

*           *           *

"What are you, my own personal Ghost of Christmas Past or something?"

_- Davey Stone (a.k.a. Adam Sandler)_

*

It wasn't unusual for Kitty to be receiving her first gift of Hanukkah the day before Winter Break began.  It was, however, out of the ordinary that a letter of apology should accompany it.

She had almost expected as much that year.  After the explosion of anti-mutant sentiment in Bayville due to the majority of the Institute's students having been exposed to the world as mutants, she could only assume her parents would be feeling somewhat hesitant about bringing their "special" daughter home for the holidays and exposing their association with the dreaded term.  It had taken some time, but Kitty had quickly gotten used to and come to terms with her mutant abilities.  Her parents, on the other hand, had not.

Kitty knew her parents loved her.  But to a family who had prided themselves on living the American Dream in utter normality up until that fateful day when their daughter awoke in the basement with her bed sheets hanging from the ceiling, Kitty's unusual abilities were not an easy thing to get used to.  As was the fact that her abilities gained her the added bane of being called a 'mutant'.  Those were not things the Prydes could become easily adjusted to, after the relative harmony of their urban existence.

Even so, Kitty couldn't help but feel somewhat bitter as she watched the rest of the manor bustle about in preparation for their own visits home for the holidays.  The letter had been short, and though filled with many admissions of regret and heartfelt apologies, it had held little of an actual explanation as to the reason for them canceling on her, which only strengthened her belief of their true motives.  It hurt to think that, in their own way, even her own parents—who had continued to love her even after the discovery of her mutant genes—would at one point abandon her because of it, if only to retain their carefully maintained image of normality amidst the currently waning mutant scare that had swept parts of the nation.  Watching the other students who were still left after everything that had transpired in the last several months, she couldn't help but feel the stirrings of envy at their collective joy at returning home for winter vacation.

And so she had slipped quietly away from the excited frenzy of preparations, seeking solitude.  Which is how she found herself in the library.  It was a welcome change from the craze that had overcome the rest of the estate for it remained, as always, still and silent; a sanctuary from the whir of activity outside.

She found she wasn't the only one who thought of it as such.

Kitty was actually somewhat proud that she didn't jump for once.  Perhaps she had just gotten better at spotting the blue elf.  It was, after all, the tail that gave him away in the end; which she had first spotted swishing lazily from the top of one of the bookcases and had kept her from jumping outright when he finally spoke.

"Hey, Katzchen.  Why aren't you packing?"

Perhaps she hadn't quite gotten over his slight abandonment several months back, or perhaps she was just moodier than she thought over her parents own current abandonment, but she found herself shooting Kurt a dark glare, hoping her would sense her annoyance and therefore leave her to her thoughts.

She knew, with Kurt, it was a hopeless venture.  The furry mutant could pick up on a person's mood from a mile away, and nearly always took it upon himself to remedy the situation, whether his methods were welcome or not.

And knowing his methods, Kitty was certain they were not in this situation—welcome, that was.

Plopping down into one of the couches at the far side of the room, she curled into proper sulking posture, shooting the German mutant one last warning glance over her shoulder before settling in to watch the snow fall in ever-growing drifts outside the immense windows.

She was treated to a loud BAMF! as Kurt perched himself anew on the far armrest of her couch, replete with the familiar aroma of sulfur she was so unpleasantly familiar with.  Kitty didn't even bother to turn, though the glare in her eyes increased somewhat with the knowledge that she wasn't going to be left alone anytime soon.

"You and Rogue have another fight over room privileges this year?" she heard him quip from over her shoulder, sounding both amused and properly sympathetic at the thought.  She could practically hear his grin, then, as he chuckled suddenly in recollection.  "I can still remember the one you two had last year.  I think everyone can, especially Evan—who got the full shock of Rogue's bare hand after you ran straight through the door and then him with one of Rogue's precious Reign of Darkness posters in hand…"

Kitty grit her teeth, not finding the memory quite as amusing.  She had hated that awful poster, and it had been on _her_ side of the room, despite anything Rogue may have said.

Regardless, that wasn't the issue right now.  Right now she just wanted to be left alone to pout in peace.

"Kurt, could you, like, leave me alone right now?" she attempted, controlling her voice as best she could and trying to remain polite despite her irritation.

There was another soft BAMF! and Kurt was suddenly peering at her from the coffee table, head canted quizzically and one of his trademark impish grins tugging at the corners of his mouth.  Had she turned more to look, she would have seen the mischievous glint in his pale eyes as well, but she didn't need to see it to know it was there.

"Ah, so there _vas_ a fight then, _ja?" came the heavily accented reply, also heavily laced with amusement._

Finally Kitty allowed herself to turn to the inquisitive elf, the very picture of angry exasperation.  "Kurt, there like, wasn't a fight!  I just want to be left alone!" she huffed in annoyance, turning back to her window-gazing with an angry flounce.

Kurt actually managed to remain silent for several heartbeats; then there was another BAMF! and it seemed that she would finally have the room all to herself.

It remained so for another minute, for which Kitty was grateful as she gazed gloomily out the expansive library window at the snow falling heavily on the grounds; and then he reappeared suddenly with a soft implosion on the couch, and she nearly jumped in surprise, turning to him with an angry retort on her lips.

She froze momentarily, though, at the sudden seriousness that had overcome his features.  It always surprised her somewhat how swiftly and easily Kurt could alter his expressions and moods, like the flick of a switch it seemed.  And also how unreadable some of those expressions could be, as was the one he now wore.

"Zhey canceled on you, didn't zhey?" he spoke suddenly, his tone ambiguously soft.  His accent was even more pronounced than usual with the unaccustomed tone, giving Kitty pause for thought.

She floundered momentarily, pretending not to understand his meaning.  "Wha-what do you mean?  Who?"  She caught a slight movement, her eyes darting from his face to his lap where his hands lay fiddling uncomfortably with a piece of paper.

_Where did that come from? _she thought briefly, and then she recalled his short absence, her interest casually piqued.

Her gaze corrected itself hastily, and she realized he had turned to look at her with a sympathetic expression.  "Your parents," he clarified carefully, and it was clear he knew exactly why she was so upset.

Kitty turned away hastily, embarrassed that he had figured it out so easily.  She tried to cover up her hurt with indignation.

"So, what, the Professor tell you or something?  Or do you read minds now, too?" she grumped irritably, all hope of getting some alone time now decidedly dashed by this intrusion.

"_Nein," was his reply in a tone she could only describe as light.  She could only guess that his smile was just as watered.  "Just…judging by what you've told us about your parents, I figured as much after, well…every'sing that's happened this year…"_

Despite the truth of his words, old defenses rose instinctively in the girl as she turned to favor him with another sharp glare, jumping hastily from the couch.  "Oh, so now you're calling my parents bigots or something, is that it?  Maybe it's got nothing to do with all this stupid anti-mutant rioting, okay!  Maybe they're just, like, really busy with work 'n stuff, or expenses are a little tight this year!  You ever think of that, fuzzbrain?!"

The older boy's face seemed to fall slightly, but Kitty wasn't certain if it was over her name-calling or not.  There was a momentary silence after her little outburst, as if he were giving her a moment to rein herself in, and then he finally spoke up, and his words nearly pierced her heart.

"Is that really what you believe, Katzchen?"

She wanted to cry.  She wanted to scream, and shout, and call him every mean name she could think of and throw things.  She wanted to break things and make a mess.  Because he was right, and it hurt.  She hurt.

Instead, she released her breath in a loud huff and sat down heavily beside him on the couch once again.  It wasn't worth having a tantrum.  She knew all of her anger had drained from her then, baring her hurt expression to him at last as she sat slumped on the couch, studying the pattern of the rug with sudden interest.

"I'm not that stupid," she admitted finally to his semi-rhetoric inquiry, her voice small and tired.  She sighed once again, tiredly, turning her gaze to her hands which she spread open-faced upon her knees in contemplation.

"I guess…I was kind of expecting it, too.  Not quite, but…let's just say I wasn't entirely surprised," she continued bitterly, not really caring now how self-pitying she may have sounded.  She found she felt like that around Kurt more than any of the other X-Men.  Somehow, he just made it easy to talk to him; one didn't care what they revealed.  Perhaps it was his famous go-lucky outlook on life shining through, even in his darkest of moods.  Kurt would never let you think that you were alone or that a situation was hopeless, which was what often gained him the notoriety for being one of the sweetest guys at the Institute as well as the best listener.

It was also one of the reasons they all put up with his wildly stupid stunts and over exuberance at the Institute so often.  Kitty was sure there would be far more complaining going around about the rambunctious elf if he wasn't so sweet-natured.

Said elf looked thoughtful, his eyes focused on some far point on the coffee table's surface.  He was silent for several moments, brows furrowing slightly as he considered his words.

"Your parents love you, Katzchen—you know that, right?" he spoke up finally after a pregnant pause, his gaze finally flicking to her again, questioning.

In reply, Kitty's thin brows furrowed darkly, lips pursing bitterly.  But even so, she nodded faintly.  "Yeah, yeah, I know," she commented with a huff, but there seemed to be a hint of appreciation underneath the bitter tone.  "It's just…stupid, y'know.  It's really stupid."

He nodded lightly in agreement, a wry grin touching his lips.  "_Ja._  It is."

She continued on, releasing her frustrations in small verbal outbursts.  "They sent me this dumb letter that basically said nothing, just how sorry they were and how much they plan on 'making it up to me' when they, like, _know_ there's no way they can!  I mean, did they really think I was like, that stupid?  That I wouldn't figure out why they didn't want me to come this year?!  Seriously!  I'm like, not six anymore!"

She was standing up now, pacing occasionally, gesticulating outrageously.  She could feel Kurt's gaze following her with thinly-veiled amusement as she expressed her indignation, getting it all out.

"…And then they gave me this stupid snowglobe!" she huffed finally, plopping resignedly down on the couch once again.

Kurt blinked momentarily, confused.  "A snowglobe?"

Kitty sighed sufferably.  "Yeah.  It's this stupid tradition of theirs or something, and they know I hate it," she elaborated, toying absent-mindedly with the collar of her sweater.  "Every time they'd cancel something on me, or we'd be, like, unable to celebrate Passover together because they had to work overtime or something, they'd send me this stupid souvenir from wherever they were.  One time it was this really stupid Statue of Liberty lighter, and this other time it was some New Mexico Indian carving or whatever."

"I've got, like, a whole drawer of stupid things like that from them."

She caught the look of continued confusion in Kurt's eyes as he studied her quizzically.  "A snowglobe doesn't sound that bad," he offered helpfully with a slight grin piercing through his confusion and a faint shrug of his shoulders.

Kitty rolled her eyes, though inwardly she appreciated his continued attempts at optimism.  "You don't get it, Fuzzy.  They sent me a snowglobe with this little sky view of Chicago inside it, so when you shake it, it looks like the city in the winter."

She sighed again, and the full extent of her sorrow seemed to be portrayed by her expression.  "I didn't really mind all the other souvenirs before—they were just dumb.  I had never been to any of those places, so they didn't mean anything to me."

"But that stupid snowglobe…"

At last some understanding filled Kurt's pale eyes.  His dark brows furrowed sympathetically as she trailed off bitterly, scowling at the floor.

"It reminds you of home," he finished softly, looking as if he felt just as hurt as she by the situation.

Kitty nodded briskly.  "Yeah.  Like I said, the whole thing's stupid," she concluded, sounding sheepish.  Suddenly she felt incredibly silly for admitting all of this to Kurt.

The German shook his head adamantly, eyes wide and sympathetic.  "No it's not, Kitty," he insisted supportively, "It makes perfect sense.  But I don't think your parents meant it that way…"

The auburn-haired girl turned to gaze at him curiously, feeling somewhat comforted despite herself.  "Yeah, you're right.  I mean, I know they didn't mean it that way, I just couldn't help but feel a little homesick about it."

A hesitant grin cracked Kurt's dark features, one white fang standing out in startling contrast with the effort.  "Hey, everyone feels a little homesick during the holidays.  That's why they write so many songs about it."

Kitty couldn't help but spare a small grin at the characteristic Kurt crack.  "You have, like, the strangest reasoning, Fuzzy," she remarked wryly.  A sudden thought occurred to her, and she glanced once more to his hands where the innocuous piece of paper was still clutched.

"Hey, what about you?" she spoke up suddenly, her face serious once again.  "Why aren't you, like, packing for Germany right now?"

"Oh…"  The elf's grin wavered momentarily, but remained in place; attempting assurance.  He couldn't quite fool Kitty, however, who—though some still remained a mystery to her—had come to know some of the energetic elf's expressions as second-hand.  And the one he was giving her right now was obviously his 'brave face.'

She frowned at him slightly in disapproval, but Kurt seemed not to notice, or at least pretended not to.

"Apparently, they're having some bad weather over in Munich right now, so my flight's been cancelled until the snow has cleared up," was his unconcerned reply.  "Right now they're saying it could be a day or two."

He grinned, and this one looked almost genuine as he leaned back on the couch, getting more comfortable.  "Besides, I'm already packed.  You're the one who always starts packing last minute and has to be dragged out the door by _Herr Logan so that you don't miss your flight."_

"I do not pack last minute.  And I do _not almost miss my flights!"_

"Whatever you say, Kitty…"

_"Kurt!"_

The blue mutant chuckled lightly at her indignation.  "Hey, lighten up!  For the next two days, you and I have the run of the house after everyone's gone!  We are going to _party!"_

This grin was definitely sincere, she decided, because it was having the usual effect of both annoying her to no end and charming her despite herself.  Her expression was dubious when she spoke.  "Kurt, like you just said, it's just you 'n me.  Do you know how like, boring that's gonna' be?"

The mischievous glint in Kurt's eyes begged to differ.  Kitty felt a sudden sense of dread.

"Katzchen, with your phasing abilities, and my teleportation skills, I can think of a million things we could do around this place…"

"None of them being good," added Kitty with a groan, half to herself.  She could practically see the elf's mind working away furiously at all the tricks he could pull on their housemates in their absence, and she was almost afraid to find out first-hand.  Whatever Kurt may have been upset about when she brought the issue up, didn't seem to matter anymore, for he was definitely back to his usual irritating self.

Maybe Kitty wouldn't have it any other way.  She certainly wasn't feeling so sore about her parents canceling on her anymore, at least for the moment, and she was pretty sure it was mainly his doing.  She didn't quite know how he did it, but she was grateful.

_Thanks, Elf,_ she thought to herself, a smile tugging at her lips.  Maybe the holidays wouldn't be as bad as she thought this year…

She turned, considering Kurt's mischievous smirk once again_.  Well, until everyone gets back from their vacations, she corrected herself wryly.  Then there was more than likely going to be hell to pay._

*           *           *

Kitty wondered why it was that that particular memory had occurred to her just then.  There was many a memory that could be connected to the library or any other room in the spacious mansion for that matter.  She supposed it was the fact that it was the holidays, for when she really thought about it, she had few holiday memories that actually involved the Institute seeing as how she had spent the majority of them at home with her parents.

The young woman smiled a bit, then as she made the connection.  This would be her second Hanukkah spent at the Institute instead of home.  No wonder the memory had come back to her.

But as had any recollections she'd made of her high school friends on this visit, a pang of heartache accompanied the memory.  Swallowing the feeling, she followed the tall and slender form of Jean Grey into the room; reasserting a warm smile on her face as she did so and banishing the remnants of her nostalgia as she greeted the other occupants of the room.

"Kitty," greeted a tall, auburn-haired man, "It's good to see you."  He smiled warmly, the red lenses of his shades flashing in the light from the fire as he moved to greet her, pulling her into a chaste hug.

Kitty smiled wryly into his sleeve, returning the hug just as warmly.  Scott was just as she remembered him; ever the big-brother and just a tad too tight-in-the-collar in comparison to the rest of the X-Men, but a nice guy nonetheless.  She recalled her girlish infatuation with the older boy her first year at the Institute with some amusement as she pulled away from the embrace, grinning up at him with growing good humor.

"It's good to see you, too, Scott," she said with a laugh, enjoying the flustered expression on his face at her sudden jocularity.  He had never really been one for humor, the poor guy, and she suddenly wished that Kurt or Evan were there to help lighten him up a bit as they had back in high school.

Shaking her head wryly at the thought, she gave Scott a good-natured punch to the arm.  "Boy, but do you never change…"

She could hear Jean's chuckled amusement from behind her, and she turned to share a warm grin with the older woman as Scott continued to gaze at them both; his face a picture of sheepish puzzlement.

Turning from the two, Kitty turned another warm smile on the other source of gentle chuckling in the room, as Jean turned comfortingly to her lover; a merry twinkle still in her green eyes.

"Mr. McCoy," she said in warm greeting, throwing her arms in a wide hug around her former professor.  "How have you been?"

Long, powerful arms held her in a gentle embrace, the shaggy mutant's blue eyes twinkling merrily with intelligent humor.  "The years have treated me quite well, my dear," he replied in kind, well-educated tones.  He released her, holding her at arms length to study her with affection.  "But come, enough with the formalities.  Call me 'Hank'—we are all adults, after all."

Kitty laughed faintly, feeling slightly overwhelmed.  "Has it really been that long?" she exclaimed breathlessly, looking around at the three of them and then the old-familiarity of the room with wistful blue eyes.

Hank's blue eyes were warm with an almost paternal affection.  "It is good to have you home once again, Kitty."

The young woman's gaze turned once again to her old friends, noting the faint tracks that time had made in their familiar faces: Jean a distinguished woman, green eyes somewhat darkened with wisdom and time, certain in her immense powers; and Scott, looking the seasoned and straight-laced leader he had always presaged in her youth.  The changes were more subtle in Hank who had already been 'old' to her eyes when she had been a student, and who's blue fur camouflaged his features to some extent.  But she sensed more than saw the more recent lines in his face, and she felt somehow that his bushy brows were slightly thicker and heavier than she remembered them.

These things she noticed only on closer inspection, however.  When she looked again, they were just as she remembered them, and a buoyant smile graced her lips.

"You know, it's good to be home…"

From the looks on their faces, all three seemed to share in her sentiment.

*           *           *

They chatted for what seemed like hours, exchanging anecdotal accounts of college and travels outside of their days at the Institute; filling in the gaps from where they'd last seen one another.  The fire crackled merrily in the hearth whilst outside, snow had begun to fall; swirling spirals of fragile flakes that glittered beyond the immense windows like the delicate ballet of so many faeries.  Any doubts, any misgivings she had had seemed to melt away from Kitty's being as she indulged herself in the warm comfort of old friends; in the heat from the fire and the warm mug of cocoa she had accepted from Jean as they'd all settled down for a good long chat on this cold winter night.

Kitty couldn't help but feel as if she had returned home, in some way.  The friendly warmth in Jean's emerald eyes; the secret, lovers' glances she and Scott would occasionally share; and Hank's genial wit and gentle guidance—they were all so familiar and dear to her.  But she was distinctly aware that she was no longer a righteous, fifteen-year-old girl with a valley-girl vernacular and a thick ponytail of abundant, auburn locks; that they were no longer a bunch of high school buddies joking around and sharing classroom traumas.  And there was a distance there, between them, despite the ease and friendly camaraderie they seemed to share.  It wasn't painful, merely disconcerting, and it was a feeling she could handle.  It was what she had expected; she felt no disappointment.

And seeing their faces, so familiar and full of an acceptance she had never quite achieved since her departure, she was content.

At some point in the night they had moved from regaling one another with their goings-on in recent years to spirited flights of nostalgia; recalling former classmates and companions with wistful expressions and soft chuckles.  More specifically, their reminiscing turned to winter and Christmas memories from their student days at the Institute—or in the case of Hank, early teaching days—and their accounts were wild and filled with colorful commentary.

"No, you're kidding!" laughed Jean in delighted disbelief, clutching her stomach with mirth.  "He did _not!_"

Kitty struggled to control her own laughter, a hand to her mouth.  "Oh, he so did!  I thought Rahne was going to bite his head off!"

"Seriously?  A dog sled?!"

"Yep.  He even got Jamie to go along with it; had seven of 'im harnessed up like a team of grinning sled dogs when he unveiled it to her.  And wearing bells, to boot."

Even Scott was clearly amused despite himself as he shot his long-time girlfriend a sidelong glance.  "I can't believe you never heard about this, Jean…" he mused affectionately.

Jean gasped with rapt amazement.  "Like jingle bells?  Oh my—I can't believe Roberto did that!" she exclaimed, breaking into even more peals of laughter.  

She sucked in a sudden breath, a thought occurring to her, and shot Kitty a suspicious glance.  "Wait a—there's no _way that boy thought up something like that on his own…" she ventured warily, eyeing both Kitty and Scott disbelievingly.  "In fact, there's only one person I know of who could've constructed such a stunt."_

Again, even Scott couldn't hide a wry grin at the obvious implications.  From his comfortable perch in one of the far armchairs, Hank smiled softly and knowingly.

Kitty had come to the same conclusions back when the stunt had first occurred, but she feigned continued mystification on the matter, shrugging lightly.  "Hey, your guess is as good as mine, Jean.  It was only rumored, after all…"

The redhead's snort of laughter implied that she wasn't buying it.  "Oh, this time you have really got to be kidding me, Kitty...  This is Kurt, we're talking about."

"Even so, the boy denies to this day that he had anything to do with it," interjected Hank from his armchair.  The mischievous light in his blue eyes made it apparent that he was just as disbelieving of such claims on the blue elf's part as the telepath.

"And as they say, 'innocent until proven guilty', my dear," he added with a faint chuckle.

Jean laughed in amazement at his calm amusement over the matter, shaking her head lightly.

The laughter began to die down a bit, and Kitty once again felt a pang of wistful melancholy at the mention of the exuberant German elf.  There was no denying that a close bond of friendship had developed between the two of them in her last several years at the Institute, and it had been a difficult parting upon her leave for college.  But her parents had been eager for her to attend classes closer to home after graduation, and she couldn't deny her own longings to return to Illinois once again; not to mention the growing sense of unwelcome hostility she had withstood for the past three years in Bayville.  Graduation had been her chance to escape, and though she was loathe to leave Kurt and her other friends behind, the lure of her roots and the chance for a new beginning had won her over and she had returned to Illinois and her parents to attend college in the guise of a normal student.

In the years since, she had been plagued by an often fleeting sense of doubt.  She had been able to dismiss such nagging thoughts without much difficulty before, no matter how often they surfaced.  But she had never quite felt them to the extent that she had been feeling them since she had received the Professor's summons nearly a month ago.

She realized suddenly that as she had lapsed into contemplative silence, the others had turned to peer at her with growing expressions of concern.

"Kitty, is something wrong?" spoke up Jean hesitantly, snapping the auburn-haired young woman out of her slight reverie.

Kitty turned to her, expression mildly apologetic as she caught the concerned edge in the older woman's gaze.  "Oh, it's nothing, really.  I guess I was just feeling a little homesick for the old days," was her wistful reply, a watery smile gracing her lips.

Jean's smile was comforting, seeming to share her sentiment somewhat.  "I know what you mean.  But that's what reunions are for after all, don't you think?"  The sudden wry gleam in her green eyes piqued Kitty's curiosity as she turned meaningfully to Scott, the two of them sharing a glance.

"That's right," quipped the young man, his features once again their usual humorless nature…though the tone in his voice spoke of anticipation.  "We're still expecting Logan, who's been off on some private business for a couple of days now, but is expected within the day or so.  And Rogue is due to arrive sometime tomorrow, if her flight doesn't run into any bad weather before then."

"Speaking of flight difficulties," spoke up Jean suddenly, looking thoughtful, "I almost forgot.  The Professor contacted me awhile ago while we were discussing something and wanted me to let you all know that Kurt's flight has finally touched down at Manhattan Air.  It seems Manhattan was hit by a small snowstorm earlier tonight so they were forced to delay landing by several hours again."

No one seemed to notice the momentarily frozen expression on Kitty's face as they continued to discuss Kurt's delayed flight with a casualness she did not feel.  Her heart had nearly seized in her throat at Jean's announcement, having been caught completely unawares by the news.

"It's about time," Scott was exclaiming with some irritation.  "The Professor's been on the phone and Cerebro for most of the day dealing with all of the flight changes he's had to make.  Apparently, the weather's been hell over in Europe and it only gets worse over the Atlantic."

"The poor boy," murmured Hank sympathetically from his chair, "He must be worn ragged by all those flight changes and stopovers.  He certainly is determined to arrive today."

Jean chuckled good-naturedly.  "You know Kurt.  'Never say die.'  All the optimism of a golden retriever…"  Realizing her choice of wording all too late, she shot Scott a sharp warning glance.  "Don't you dare say a thing!"

"What?" exclaimed her beau, looking hurt.  "All I was going to say was that he also has the energy of one…"

Seeming to regain her voice, Kitty finally managed to speak up.  "No one told me Kurt was going to be here," she remarked pointedly, looking surprised and slightly hurt.

All three turned to stare at her in astonishment at the unexpected declaration.

"Really?" exclaimed Hank, looking rather bemused.  He scratched his chin slightly in wonder, looking bewildered.  "I would have thought that you of all people would have been the first of us to learn of his coming."

Jean, however, looked hesitant; almost guilty.  "You mean…you didn't get a letter from him?"

Kitty tried not to let her disappointment show.  "No.  Are you saying all of you did?"

The three nodded faintly, exchanging curious glances.  There was a thoughtful expression in Jean's green eyes.

Kitty continued, a thread of irritation replacing her momentary shock.  "I haven't gotten any letters from him since…well, last Hanukkah, I think.  So almost a year," she told them, brows furrowing ever-so slightly.

Her blue eyes had turned bright and sharp; the others seemed hesitant to interrupt.  They all knew Kitty's righteous indignation quite well, and seemed to be wondering why Kurt would wish to incite it.

The younger woman huffed angrily, an angry smirk twisting her lips.  "Oh, when he gets here…" she managed to huff threateningly.  But the sudden, eager light in her blue eyes belied her elation at the news.

The telepath seemed to have picked up on her underlying enthusiasm, her warm smile renewed as she glanced at the men folk in assurance.  "It looks as if we'll be having quite the reunion after all," she commented wryly, the good mood restored once again.

~          *           ~

TO BE CONTINUED…

*

Yikes!  This was a long chapter—much longer than I'd intended!  So, gift to you all!  I hope you enjoyed.  The first chapter was quite short so hopefully this one made up for it a bit.  Of course, once again I ended it on a semi-cliffhanger—only this time around, it was intended.  I certainly didn't mean it in the first chapter, it just sort of happened that way.  But I knew all along that chapter 2 was going to be a cliffhanger.  Heh.  I know, I'm so mean.

Anyway, thanks so much to those of you who reviewed the first chapter!  I got some really great and encouraging reviews!  You guys are what kept me determined to complete this second chapter…though it took muuuuuch longer than I'd intended because there just ended up being so much that needed to be said!  I don't know what I'm going to do when Kurt finally makes his actual appearance—he just runs away with himself.  What's a poor fan-writer to do?

My personal thanks to:

**Queequegg** – Yay!  Thanks so much—you were my very first reviewer!  Thank you so much for the great comments!  I was really flattered!  I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much!

**Kaminarimon** – Wow!  I can't believe I had that affect on you!  Though I'm not sure I know who Takari is; maybe I'm just not cultured enough, _ja?  I hope you'll keep reading, and maybe educate me a little on Takari.  ^_^_

**Selene** – Thank you so much for the compliment, though I have to admit I'm not so confident in my writing skills as you.  I simply enjoy writing, and what's the point of writing if not to share something?  So I'm glad there are others who could enjoy my flights of fancy along with me.

**Shadow-fire** – Lol.  I'm glad you want more.  I hope you like this chapter as much as the last.  I'll try to update as often as possible, because you seem so eager.  And I'm glad I caught your review before posting this.  Thanks so much for the support!

Thanks so much to all of you reviewers!  Your comments are always appreciated!

~Neko-chan


	3. III

Carol of the Bells  * III * 

By Nichole (Neko-chan) Johnson

Written: May 19 – 23, 2003

Rated: PG (may go up)

Pairings: Mainly Kurt/Kitty; canon pairings mentioned (Scott/Jean, Rogue/Remy)

Disclaimer: I don't own either the _X-Men: Evolution_ series or the _X-Men_ in general.  Each is the respective property of Warner Bros. and Marvel.

Author's Note: Yay!  Logan and Kurt make their appearances!  The quote below is from a recent episode of _Buffy_, and though it was meant more literally en context, I thought it captured the somewhat bitter sarcasm of Kitty's continued wanderings down memory lane in this chapter.  Um, if you guys just don't get what I mean by that, I'm really sorry.  I was really liking that line while I was writing this, okay?

*           *           *

"Hey, party in my eye socket and everyone's invited!"

_- Xander Harris_

*

The snowfall had grown steadily heavier as the night wore on, and Kitty found herself gazing almost hypnotically into the glittering maelstrom from her room's window; entranced by its beauty.  Despite the heavy downpour of snow, the night was still and silent in frozen splendor.  _Nuit blanche¹_, the very picture of serenity.

A serenity felt only on the surface, for her soul remained in turmoil.  She was becoming increasingly anxious, remembering once again her initial reasoning for making this trip; for reawakening the past.  She had not heard from Xavier since her arrival in the foyer, and though she sent many a mental request in hopes that he would hear her, she had received no reply.

The cold that emanated from the pane chilled her suddenly, and she turned at last from her reverie and moved into the room's heat, banishing her troubled thoughts to the back of her mind; her back on the night, the cold and the silence.  Blue eyes drifted distractedly about the room, glancing at the unfamiliar furnishings with a searching, lost expression.  Her eyes fell on the contents of her small duffel which lay spilled out over the bed's comforter where she had left them, only half-unpacked, and she crossed softly to the bedside; her hands moving idly over the belongings that lay there.

Her hand fell suddenly on the smooth, familiar surface of a snowglobe and her absent movements halted; errant memories clouding her eyes momentarily.  The skyline of Chicago lay still and untouched amidst a sea of synthetic flakes beneath a sphere of thick glass scuffed and fogged by time.  Kitty eyed it silently for sometime, cupped loosely in the palm of her hand and then she tilted it slowly on-end, watching the white flakes spill gently to the top of the glass.  She righted it once more, watching the semblance of snow billow out over the Chicago skyline like she had so many times before, an unusual expression in her blue eyes.

Content with the familiar ritual, she placed it solemnly on the empty dresser.  Then ignoring the rest of the articles that still lay spilled upon the bed's surface, she slipped out of the room without even a backward glance.

*           *           *

Nostalgia hit her once again as she stepped off the tiny elevator and onto the familiar floor, glancing up and down its length as if distrusting the guise of silence that befell the empty corridor.  It was pure whim that had brought her here; her mind ticking off the names of old housemates as she passed each closed door, a soft, secret sort of smile resting lightly on her lips.

This was Jean's old room; and there was the room Evan and Bobby had once shared.  Down the hall there had been Scott's room, and on the far opposite end was Kurt's; so forth and so forth on down the line.  Her smile warmed further at the phantom voices that called from her memory; remembrances of the early morning activity this hall had seen so many years ago, and most likely continued to see, though its length and rooms be filled with new and different faces.

She stopped just before the room she and Rogue had once shared, her conscience restraining her momentarily at the thought of intruding on what was now someone else's.  Steeling herself, feeling strangely rebellious or daring—whatever it may be—she slid her head slowly through the worn wood, glancing around the room beyond just to be certain of its emptiness.  When she was sure that it was uninhabited for the moment, she pulled herself the rest of the way through; glancing about the familiar room with a rush of nostalgic delight.

It had remained almost entirely the same as she remembered it, despite its new occupants.  Gone were the posters of divas and teen heartthrobs, warring with the dark trappings that had bedecked her roommate's half of the room, but the furniture still sat in its' usual pattern and the personal decorations of its new occupants still reflected the overall adolescent feel that the room had emulated even then.

Kitty stood for several heartbeats, recalling where things had once been; smiling softly at the memory of arguments she and Rogue had shared in this very room.  Then not wishing to intrude any further, she phased back through the worn, wooden door to stand once again in the familiar hallway.  The sudden, fleeting recollection of nearly colliding with Evan on his skateboard in this very spot brought an amused grin to her face.

And then another whim claimed her, and she found herself walking purposefully toward the end of the hall; to another familiar room.  This time she didn't bother with caution as she phased fully through the door and into the room beyond.

It seemed hard to recall specific memories this time around, as she gazed about the familiar darkened room, forehead creased in thought with the struggle for these more difficult and somewhat intimate memories.

_"What's wrong, Katzchen?"_ came a voice faint in the back of her mind after some prodding; disjointed pieces of conversation that no longer made sense.  

_ "…didn't go very well.  I don't vant to talk about it…"_

_"…thought you'd heard—she's leaving.  Not that…"_

_"…hate to see you cry…"_

She could see them in her mind so startlingly, those pale eyes; compassionate and filled with raw concern.  Why had she been crying again?  All she could recall now was the feeling of comfort she had felt in this room, and in his words; she could not remember what had made her upset.  But it had hurt with such ferocity at the time, as did most adolescent experiences.

There was no specific memory driving her, but the large French doors at the far end of the room seemed to beckon to her.  The curtains had been drawn and as she drew nearer, she pulled the drapery aside with hesitant movements to peer at the snowy scene outside.  The balcony lay covered in untouched drifts of glittering snow; inciting a sudden sense of loneliness in Kitty that she could not explain.  She could see his dark form in her mind, crouched intently on the stone balustrade like some lone gargoyle holding vigil; spade tail swinging lazily behind him like a content cat.  Could see the questioning glance he would throw at her over his shoulder; tail freezing momentarily in the comical expression that would arrest his features at her intrusion.  How many times had she found him that way, when she had sought him out for some reason or other; hoping to comfort him, or receive comfort, or simply share her thoughts?

And then it was only the snow that she saw gracing the balcony, and the cold ache of loneliness returned.  She smiled at it in assurance, letting the drapes fall back into place and turning from the view.  She would see him soon enough, would she not?  There was no need for such thoughts.

Still smiling lightly, the young woman drifted distractedly into the hallway once again, this time heading straight for the elevator without a backward glance.  She had been doing just what she had told herself she wouldn't do on this trip, which was dwell on the past, and it was time to snap herself back to her senses.

She was suddenly painfully aware of just how hungry she was as she took the elevator to the first floor.  Her stomach growled dully in protest, and she smiled wryly at its complaints.  It had been sometime since she'd last eaten; not since her flight's layover in Cleveland, to be exact.  And that had to have been almost sixteen hours ago.  It was obvious where her next destination would be in the immense house.

_Nothing like a __midnight__ snack, she thought wryly; and unbidden, another memory occurred to her at the thought, involving a certain blue elf and a half a gallon of milk.  Kitty stifled a groan of dismay, shaking the thought away and resolving not to incur further memories with her snacking.  She would definitely not be eating any pizza, then…_

*           *           *

The kitchen had been another study in nostalgia, but Kitty had forced her thoughts to the more important task at hand; fixing herself a quick sandwich and a glass of juice.  It was odd, how easily things came back to her; where the bread was stored, which drawer held the utensils.  She had been away for six long years, and this kitchen felt as if it had never changed.

She was reflecting on this, perched at the kitchen's small island and munching idly at her vegan sprout and tofu sandwich—grateful for the fact that there obviously remained other vegans at the School for Gifted Individuals since her absence—when the sound of loud footsteps hit her ears.  Kitty straightened, bringing her eyes about to watch the door in curiosity.

To her great surprise and pleasure, it was the familiar, stout and grizzled figure of Logan that walked through the doorway.  He was wearing his signature heavy black leather jacket, having presumably been out on his motorcycle once again, just as she remembered him doing when she was a kid.  She remembered how shocked she had been as a girl when he would go out on the thing in weather such as this, but the elements had never seemed to bother the genetically altered man very much; and it was clear his ways hadn't changed any since then.

It was obvious he wasn't surprised by her presence, which wasn't unusual.  She was sure he had smelled her from some ways down the hall, which was why he didn't start or pause in surprise but instead strode purposely towards the large refrigerator, shooting her one of his ghost-of-a smiles as he did so.

"Hey, there, half-pint," he greeted with gruff warmth, snatching a beer from the depths of the fridge.  Closing the door roughly, he leaned back against the appliance, gazing at her with an assessing glance.  "Heard you got in earlier this evening.  Sorry I wasn't there to greet ya, kid."

Kitty chuckled good-naturedly, abandoning her seat to cross the room in eager strides.  Grinning, he stepped away from his post, allowing her to throw her arms about him in a loose hug.

"It's good to see you again, Logan," she said upon pulling away from their short embrace, brushing an errant strand of her reddish-brown hair from her eyes.  Her grin was threatening to split her features as she beamed up at him, amazed at how unchanged he was after all these years.

Logan, however, eyed her shrewdly; seeming amazed at the progress six years had had on the young woman.  Regaining himself, he returned her grin with a faint one of his own.  "Same here, kid," he replied in his familiar, gruff yet fond tones; squeezing her shoulder affectionately.  "You've sure grown up."

The young woman gave a small sigh, turning to glance around at the familiar kitchen with pensive eyes.  "Huh.  Sometimes it feels like I never left," she muttered, eyes distant.

He gave her shoulder another squeeze, moving past her into the room.  "Don't I know it, kid," he remarked wryly, taking a swig from his beer and taking a seat at the island where she had been perched only moments before.

"Seein' you 'n Red and Cyke here again—it's almost like none of you ever left."  He took another swig from his beer, expression growing considerably darker.  "But things have changed around here, half-pint."

Kitty watched him from where she still stood near the doorway, trying to read the dark expression in his gaze as he nursed his drink.  The man had always been the brooding sort, even when she was a girl.  But the darkness in his eyes seemed heavier somehow, and more pronounced than ever.  It seemed to enhance the feelings of dread she had had in coming here; the sense of growing fear and danger she had felt over the past few years, the stir of discord that had overcome the nation.

So she had not been the only one to sense these things.  The thought made her cold, and impulsively she drew her arms around herself tightly.

Her legs didn't seem to work right when she went to move once again; as she walked stiffly back towards the island where he sat, ignoring her former seat and the half-eaten sandwich that lay on the countertop and simply stood.  She glanced at his hands where they nursed his beer, watching the beads of condensation that dripped down the bottleneck with mindless fascination.

"So when did you get back?" she asked finally, changing the subject from their dark direction.

He didn't turn to her, but took another swig from his beer.  She caught the faint flash that registered in his eyes; knew he'd sensed her intentions in her voice.  "About an hour ago," was his reply; tone indifferent.  "I've been up talkin' to Charles since then, mostly.  Snow's pickin' up quite a bit out there; thought it might cause some problems in the morning."

Kitty felt herself stiffen, a thread of hope rising unbidden in her at the mention of the Professor.  "You've been to see the Professor, then?" she prodded carefully, trying to keep the note of hope from her voice.

Logan seemed to have caught it, however.  He shot her a pointed glance, one brow raised; the look smothering that faint breath of hope.  "Save it, half-pint.  The Professor's up to his ears in all sorts of messes right now.  He'll see ya when he's good 'n ready."

Kitty's response was decidedly bitter.  "And when is that, pray tell?" she remarked snidely, her temper beginning to get the better of her.  She pulled a deep breath, releasing it in a huff; trying to calm herself.  Dragging her fingers roughly through her long tangle of auburn hair, she took a seat at last beside him at the long island, her expression tried.

"It's just… I was so unsure about coming here," she admitted finally, her tone abject.  He was watching her intently, still nursing his drink, so she continued; fiddling idly with her plate.  "And it's been like he's completely avoiding me since I came here, Logan.  I need answers.  And he just calls me here and expects me to wait patiently."

The grizzled man grunted noncommittally, glancing away.  "Pun'kin, I know this drill better 'n any one around here.  Charles may seem like he ain't listenin', but that ain't true, kid.  If he won't see you just now, then there's a reason."

His gaze was penetrating when he turned to her again, holding her in place as if he knew everything she was about.  "I know why ya came back, kid; you've got that intense look all over ya, like you've been wound up on something fer months.  Don't know how many times I've come back here for just the same reasons, half-pint, but what I can tell ya is this: they're not here."

His gaze, if it were at all possible, had become even more intense; almost stern.  "Those answers you're lookin' for," he growled, gesturing with the hand still clutching his beer, "ain't no one can give 'em to ya but you.  You ask Charles all you want, kid—just keep that in mind.  Answers like the kind you're lookin' for can only come from time."

She gazed at him in silence for several heartbeats, digesting his words; appreciating the concern.  The sometimes surly and distant Wolverine had always seemed to keep a special eye out for her, holding her in uncharacteristically tender regards, but never had he shown such open concern and given such advice.  She couldn't help but feel touched; noting the uncharacteristic softness in Logan's hardened eyes as he regarded her pointedly.

Kitty smiled faintly at his advice.  "Even so, I need to talk to him," she replied finally, looking apologetic yet remaining stubborn.  "You understand, don't you, Logan?"  She picked up her abandoned sandwich at last, taking a small, hesitant bite.

She felt him clap a large hand to her shoulder in a supporting gesture as she turned back to her food.

"Wouldn't be much sense in coming if you didn't," was his gruff reply, but she could sense the warmth of humor just below the surface of his voice.  "We all do it at some time, kid.  Might as well be yours."

Kitty sighed into her sandwich, feeling the weight again on her shoulders even as he removed his hand.  "I just wish there didn't have to be this confusion," she bemoaned, raising her eyes towards the expansive windows in dismay.  "All of this distrust and hate in the world.  We can go about our lives like we're normal, but it's still there, just below the surface.  And it only seems to be growing."

Now it was Logan's turn to sigh hopelessly.  "Don't know what to say to that, pun'kin," was his murmured reply as he followed her gaze to the windows, taking in the swirl of snow that filled its view.  "But maybe that's why you kids are all comin' back here.  I got a feelin' Charles has been thinkin' the same thing, and he's maybe got some idea on how to handle it."

Kitty scrunched her face up in a sour yet wry expression.  "You mean, this isn't just a Christmas get-together?" she joked sardonically, shooting him a glance.  There was a sly twinkle in her blue eyes.

Logan snorted in reply, sounding disgusted.  "If it is, it couldn't've come at a worse time, kid," he muttered darkly, eyes shifting suddenly in the direction of the hall; distracted by something.  A peculiar expression overcame him, and Kitty turned to him in curiosity, wondering at the sudden change.

"What is it?"

He took a slow pull from his bottle, not bothering to glance at her as he climbed slowly to his feet.  "Got another visitor," he muttered finally, turning to leave.  "'S 'bout time, too."

Rising to follow him, her sandwich forgotten, Kitty felt a knot tighten in her stomach.  "Kurt?" she queried uncertainly, her legs locking momentarily in place.  She swallowed her apprehension and the knot of ill-defined emotions that rose in her throat, following him from the kitchen.

He didn't answer her for sometime, but when he did, his tone was overly gruff; belying an underlying eagerness.  "Damn certain.  No mistakin' 'wet Elf' stench…" he grumbled, sounding irritated.  But Kitty could sense the gruff affection in his voice and in his eyes, and a gentle smile touched her lips.

Logan turned suddenly just before the foyer, ducking into one of the alcoves that branched off into a small flight of stairs.  Kitty halted, slight panic arresting her features.

"Where are you going?" she said hastily, sounding apprehensive.

He turned, regarding her innocently, but she could have sworn there was a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth.  "The others'll wanna' know.  They've been waitin' on him for more 'n a day now."

He smiled a bit in an assuring manner, but she caught a flash of mischief in his fierce eyes.  "You go on an' greet 'im, okay, kid?  The others 'n I will be along in a few."

With that, he disappeared swiftly into the alcove and up the stairs, leaving her frozen in the hall.  She shot a surly glare after him, willing her legs to move once again; to bring her into the foyer.  

Apprehension once again hit her hard; she didn't know what to expect.  How much could her best friend have changed in six years?  Would he be the same, exuberant elf she remembered?  Or would adulthood and the discrimination that heavily influenced their world have mellowed him into someone else entirely?

And she realized she didn't have time to worry about such things, as she noted where her legs had obediently taken her; that she stood suddenly in the open expanse of the foyer.

*           *           *

He was standing near the door, shaking the snow from his hair and brushing it idly from his clothes; and seemed not to have sensed her presence yet, much to her relief…for she found herself frozen once again, taking in the suddenness of his being there, after six years of absence.

And in a mere heartbeat, all of the apprehension seemed to melt from her, an undeniable sense of relief and delight overcoming her.  A smile broke her features, an almost mischievous smile as a whim came to her and she darted silently into the nearby wall; all but her upper torso disappearing into the stone.  She watched him for a moment, careful that he hadn't seen her; then grinning widely, disappeared all of the way into the wall.

She slipped around the perimeter of the foyer, then, allowing the wall to conceal her; her phased presence preventing the tell-tale recourse of footsteps that would have given her away.  She came out slightly behind him, grinning wryly at her use of his own tricks; blue eyes twinkling.

_"Sie schauen gut.²"_

It was hard not to laugh outright at how startled he was by the sudden voice behind him.  Giving a small yelp of surprise, Kurt jumped, and then spun hastily about to find Kitty grinning almost smugly at him; still buried from the waist-down within the wall behind her.

The German put a hand to his heart as if to still its sudden pounding at the fright she had given him, pale eyes wide in surprise.  "Kitty?!  You sca—"

_"Froh mich zu sehen?³"_ she cut him off, speaking his native tongue yet again; still smirking as she slipped all the way out of the wall to face him with arms crossed lazily.

He remained somewhat startled, even as a delighted grin split his features, his hand falling from his chest.  _"Jawohl, Katzchen.  Sehr nettª_—eh?"  He broke off suddenly, his eyes widening further in delight and surprise.  "_Ach, vhere did you learn German, Katzchen?" he exclaimed, clearly impressed._

Kitty arched a brow at him, still grinning.  "Hey, what do you think college is for, Fuzzy?"  She chuckled, and shrugged her shoulders lightly.  "Anyway, I needed two language courses on my degree.  So why not pick one I'm going to use, right?"

"To scare the wits out of an old friend?" he remarked with a raised brow of his own, grinning broadly.

"_Jawohl_," she replied matter-of-factly.

Both laughed; relief and delight evident in their voices.  When they were through, they studied one another for several heartbeats in silence.

It was not an awkward silence, to Kitty's relief, but more of an overwhelmed one.  She couldn't help but look him over, surprised by both the changes in him, and the lack thereof.  It seemed like he was taller than she'd remembered, but then, she had always been a petite woman, so perhaps it was only her mind playing tricks on her.  His dark hair, which had always been rather long when they were teenagers, was short in comparison to what she remembered of it; untidy bangs falling in a split-part just above his pointed elven ears, and only slightly longer in the back where once it had fallen nearly to his shoulders.

He looked older, that was for sure, with his short, untidy hair; dressed quite comfortably in khaki slacks and a charcoal knit turtleneck underneath a black, wool jacket.  _And more prepared for this weather than I was_, she added wryly to herself, recalling regretfully the thin jacket she had arrived in.

It was at second-glance that he appeared to be the same Kurt she had always known; in the way he smiled—boyish as ever—and the carefree tone of his voice.  Underneath it all, it was clear he hadn't changed; at least, not in the ways that mattered.

She had missed him, she realized; now more than ever.  She could feel her throat clench up at the welling emotion.  She had missed him a lot.

He seemed to sense the slight change in her mood, his smile softening.  _"__Vermißten sie _mich___?ⁿ" he teased softly, but she could sense the sincerity in his voice despite his tone._

In response, Kitty threw her arms about him in a fierce embrace.  He seemed to freeze momentarily, thrown off by her reaction.  And then he wrapped his arms about her tightly and returned the hug, smiling softly.

It was several moments of contented bliss, and then her voice—muffled by his jacket—broke the silence; tone accusing.

"What's this about you not sending me a letter…?"

Kurt stiffened guiltily, smiling sheepishly at her as she pulled from their embrace to give him a pointed glare.  His eyes shifted away under her accusing gaze, seeming to study the expansive foyer and distant ceiling all of a sudden.

"Well?" she prompted, sounding impatient.  She couldn't help but grin inwardly at the discomfort she was causing him; in all honesty, she wasn't that mad about the letter.  But she wanted to see him sweat about it a little, just the same.

…Which he seemed to be doing quite a bit, at the moment.  Chuckling nervously, Kurt scratched absently at the back of his neck with one of his three-fingered hands; a pose she had seen him pull all-too-often back in high school.

"Ah…that…_Ja, I can explain, Kitty…" he began hesitantly, one of his characteristic, uncertain grins splitting his furry blue face._

His eyes darted suddenly to the staircase where voices could be heard; and after a moment, Jean and Scott could be seen at the top of the steps.  They turned from their conversation, spotting the two down in the foyer and smiling in greeting; Jean tossing them a careless wave.

Kitty watched in secret amusement as Kurt's face lit up thankfully at the sight of the two scapegoats.

"Oh, look!  Zhere's Scott and Jean!" he exclaimed suddenly with obvious relief, straightening up hastily and throwing the older couple a jaunty wave.  "I'd better go say 'hello'."

Kitty raised her brows at him in a knowing expression, hiding a smile.  "Of course," she replied tersely, enjoying his grimace at her tone.  She canted her head loftily, giving him a warning glance.  "Don't think you're getting out of this so easily, though…" she added as a parting threat, glaring at him meaningfully.

He smiled uncomfortably at her, and with a soft BAMF! was gone, reappearing suddenly at the top of the staircase, where she could see him greet Scott and Jean with cheerful exuberance.  Ignoring the faint stench of brimstone he left in his wake, Kitty finally allowed herself to smile softly at his antics.  Suddenly, she felt terribly grateful that she had chosen to return to the Institute.  It really did feel good to be "home".

Still smiling softly to herself, Kitty strode purposefully across the room and began to ascend the steps in the more conventional manner, eager to join her friends.

~          *           ~

**~ Glossary ~**

Nuit blanche¹  -  white night; sleepless night _(French)_

Sie schauen gut.²  - _(__Ger.__) You look well._

Froh mich zu sehen?³  -  _(__Ger.__) Happy to see me?_

Sehr nettª  - very cute/nice _(meant in sarcasm)_

Vermißten sie mich?ⁿ  -  Did you miss me?

Jawohl  -  unconventional or crude way of saying a firm 'yes'; affirmative

…and I'm sure you all know the rest.  (If not, just e-mail me.)

But let it be known that all of the German in this fic is subject to mistakes, seeing as I don't really know much and most of the phrases were translated by AltaVista, which is a poor excuse for a translator, really.  I tried my best to get them as accurate as possible, but if anyone who knows anything about German notices any major mistakes, please let me know and I'll try to fix it.  Butcher someone else's language, I do _not want to do!  So some aid in that department would be greatly appreciated!_

~

Anyway, I apologize for the long wait on this chapter, but I found it quite a bit more difficult to write than I had hoped.  Even now I'm still not completely satisfied with it.  Oh well.  It remains heading in the same direction, so there's naught much I can do to remedy it.  I guess I'm rather satisfied with Logan and Kitty's scene—I hope to write for those two some more in this, because they're 'big brother' relationship intrigues me (which is more so apparent in the original comics.)  And don't worry—there will definitely be more Kurt/Kitty action going on in further chapters!  Yes, he's finally here!  It took me awhile, but I wanted to build up to it.  Things needed to be said, yadda yadda.  I also didn't want it to be too emotional, so tell me what you guys think.  I was going for a nice balance between emotional and teasingly cheerful, but I'm not so sure if I achieved that…

Oh, before I forget, a couple notes on references made:

_"…__ another memory occurred to her at the thought, involving a certain blue elf and a half a gallon of milk. "_  -  this is a reference to Episode 33, (season 3) "Mainstream" when Kurt catches Kitty drinking straight from the milk jug at the beginning of the episode and scolds her for it.  When she tells him she was going to finish it, he replies cheekily, (and I paraphrase here) "Alright.  There's only about a half a gallon left…"  I thought this was one of the cutest Kurt/Kitty moments, and it just came to me as soon as Kitty remarked on having a midnight snack.

-  Logan grabbing a beer from the fridge was in slight homage of the kitchen scene from _X2, where Logan goes looking for a beer and Bobby points out that "this is a school".  So I thought, 'what the hey!', I'm gonna' give Logan his frickin' beer!  Hey, it could be stashed in there somewhere; or maybe Xavier thought they should stock up over the holidays while the children were away.  Logan deserves his beer, _verdammt!__

If I missed any others, I'll try to post them later.  I'm tired, and my face is beginning to hurt from squinting at the screen.  I just want to get this thing posted, and I'm sure you all just don't care about this petty stuff anyway.  Why am I so long-winded, for crying out loud?

Thanks again to all of you who reviewed!  Again, I received such great reviews and I hope you'll all continue to read and comment in the future!

~Neko-chan


	4. Interlude: Author's Thanks

**In Thanks to my Reviewers…**

I apologize for the lack of personal thanks in Chapter III.  When I finally completed the chapter, it was late and I wanted to get it posted, and therefore didn't have time to go into all of the thanks for the reviews I had received after Chapter II got put out, even though I dearly wanted to.  I could not BELIEVE the amazing response I got after Chapter II was posted!  Thank you all SO much for the support, and I am so relieved that you're all liking this thus far.  I've only had this story up for roughly 3 weeks now, and am already at over 30 reviews!  I can't believe it!  That's a lot for me—none of my stories have ever gone over 40 reviews total!  I would say it's my goal now to top that number, but with the rate you have all been reviewing after each chapter, I think I may actually have to raise that number.  Thank you all so much!  It does an often-overlooked writer good, the support you've all shown me!

Anyway, after the responses to Chapter II, combined with the even greater to Chapter III, I decided I should devote a separate 'interlude' chapter to all of my reviewers, to answer some of their concerns and questions, and just plain give thanks.  So here's to all of you, though I may only have addressed a few of you personally here!

~~~~~~~@

**LeDiz****: So happy to see you were reading!  Really, really, really was!  Just like how happy I was to find out you really _are_ a Kurtty fan, even if you're really _evil_ to them in your fics.  (Just kidding—you know I have to give you crap for that!)  But it's funny how I feel like I've almost gotten to know you and Kiki just by reading your looooong wonderfully silly fics—you guys are so much like me, it scares me sometimes.  Yep.  Anyway, so glad you like how "Carol" is going, and thank you so much for being the first to point out that bizarre formatting problem back when Chapter II was first posted.  You're a lifesaver!  And we _will teach you how to write Kitty in a good light someday!  That shall be our goal!  Yes!_**

**Selene****: I'm wondering what I had you fooled about in Chapter II?  Really curious, actually.  I'd love to hear it!  Lol, I'm glad you like the fact that Logan got his beer as well—yes, definitely one of the best scenes in _X2 (after, of course, our beloved Nightie's spectacular fight scene…)  Also, though it does mirror the original NC, I actually shortened Kurt's hair in here simply for the fact that he was a lot older now and probably outgrew the hairstyle.  Lol!  Yeah, it was a slight homage to the original, but I really just thought, 'Would he really have the same haircut after that long?'  Gawd, I know my brothers don't get the same haircut every year!  But I'm glad you liked it!_**

**Kiki****: Oh, I was sooo excited to see you'd reviewed my fic, and not only that but TWICE, in-depth, and YOU LIKED IT!!  I feel honored—I've been stocking up on your fics lately (as you've noticed) and I just looooove your work, so good reviews from you are just extra special!  Thanks for the e-mail to _my reviews, btw!  Lol!  Anyway, I'm so glad you feel I've captured that 'grown-up feeling', because I was really going for that, but I can never really tell if I hit it.  Just like I can never tell when I've apparently written a really good chapter, lol, as was seen after the response to Chapter III.  And to think, I was feeling unsure of that chappie… *shakes head*  And wow, couldn't believe the length of your review for that chapter!  You really had a lot to comment on—I'm so happy!  I'm glad I had you going a bit with the kitchen scene, because that was entirely unintended.  Lol.  I'm still amazed by the things you guys point out to me as I continue with this…  Yay!  Someone else who loves those Logan/Kitty moments!  I assure you there will be more of that in the future.  As well as some Logan/Kurt interaction (not in the dirty sense, you crazy slash fan-girls who may be reading! *grin*)  Also, I'm glad you liked that I had Kitty knowing German; since I wrote it, I've read that a LOT of other authors want to and like fitting that into their fics, so I didn't feel so original anymore, but I had known before I even started writing that 'gosh darnit, Kitty's gonna' know some German!'  It will be explained more later on, her reasons and true intentions for learning it—yes, there's actually some depth to my reasoning, I assure you—so I won't elaborate here._**

Thanks to all of you who mentioned Kitty knowing German and liking it, btw!

**Queequegg:**  Heh heh, I'm flattered you think so.  I don't know about outdoing myself, though…I long for the day THAT happens.  And you got it, _mein freund!_  There is a bigger reason for Kurt's no-show letter to Kitty…  And you're going to hate me now, 'cuz I'm evil, and don't really know how much of that will be explained in this story…because I'm already planning a sequel to it in Kurt's POV to go further into what he's been up to, why he decided to come back (like we don't really know already…*grin*) as well as some other stuff that occurs before, during, and after the events of "Carol".  Tentatively to be entitled _"Kleine Glocken"_, after a German carol who's English title means "Ring, Little Bells".  (Clever, eh?)  Anyway—I'm getting away with myself—Kurt may give some reasoning to it in this fic, but you should get the whole story in his sequel fic.  At least, that's what I plan.  (Neko is bad with plans…)

**Kaminarimon:**  Oh…my…  *blush*  My dear, has anyone ever told you how flattering you are?  I think I was on Cloud 9 after receiving your reviews to Chapter III (but I'll try not to let it go to my head).  You really are a peach!  I'm so glad my writing actually has a feel to it, and is not just words to you—I love a reviewer who can point out such nuances.  And I'm an angel?  *laughs* Oh, _fraulein, you really don't know me… *lol*  Anyway, I appreciate the depth with which you go about your reviews, and I hope you won't be afraid to point out criticisms in the future as well when you see fit.  You have a wonderful eye for detail, and we writers just don't get enough of that.  And thanks for the info on Takari; so you're a __Digimon fan, eh?  Into any other animes, or do you just watch _Digimon_ on TV?_

**Triple X:**  I'm really glad you like it so far, and for its uniqueness, too.  That's really a relief, that I've actually managed to appeal to fans of slightly different tastes.  But I got tired of the repetitiveness that I'd been finding in most Kurtty fiction, as good as some of it was.  That's what really drove this fic: to create something different.  And yes, yes, yes!!  You have hit it right on the head there, _mein freund!  I was going for that—I didn't intend for Kitty's affections to seem anything more than friendly at this point.  I was writing this as someone who knows what its like to leave your best friend behind and lose contact with them, and then not see them for another 6 or so years.  It was a bit of personal experience that went into this really—if I hadn't had a similar experience, I don't think I would've been able to write this at all.  So a lot of what Kitty's feeling is what I've felt before.  She was missing Kurt for being Kurt; for being her friend._

But don't worry, all you Kurtty fans!  Just give it time… (Neko just can't write fanfiction without a good dose of romance, in all honesty.  I'm a terribly hopeless romantic.)

**Ice Princess (Incrediblecuznz):** You know, your enthusiasm is contagious.  I actually went back and reread my OWN chapter after your review, and I have to admit, you made me feel pretty content with it at last…though I'm still in awe of why so many of you liked this chapter so much, lol.  Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and…persuasiveness.  Yay!  I'm on your favs!  I feel so special now!!  *grin*

**Todd fan:** Lol, did **Kiki** send you over here, or was it pure curiosity?  Didn't expect to see you in here!  I've 'seen' you around in **Kiki's works, in her reviews and so forth, and I could tell you weren't much for the Kurtty scene.  I'm glad I've managed to hold your interest, and possibly make you more keen on the couple.  And speaking of enjoying different tastes, you can thank **Kiki** for my growing support of the whole Todd/Rogue angle (I'm not even gonna' TRY some of those shipper monikers…!)  *lol*  I've got you enjoying Kurt/Kitty, and you both have got me enjoying Todd/Rogue…what next?!**

**Moojuice****: Ooh, a fellow _Buffy_/Evo fan!  Lol!  I know, I just loved that line, too!  I cracked up so bad when it was first said…poor Xand-man with the whole eye-patch thing, and you-know-who dying.  Does the guy EVER get a break?  *sniff*  And _Buffy_ is over now!  Oh, the horror!  Anyway, I'm glad you're liking this!**

**RedLion****: Yay!  Another enthused first-time reader!  I'm so glad you like it thus far!  And I'm flattered that you think I give just enough details/etc. but don't bog you down with it!  I'm always worried that I'm doing just that: bogging it down.  I'm a terrible detail vampire, and am always afraid I'll overdo it and have someone reading and going 'huh?' rather than understand it.  But apparently, I succeeded in your opinion.  I'm so relieved!  And once again with the spectacular feedback on Chapter III!  _Scheisse, but you people really seemed to like that chapter!  *lol*  Your enthusiasm was truly uplifting to my already insanely buoyant mood that day, **RedLion**.  __Dankeschoen_!__**

**Sharkey:** Ooh, I'm so glad you like it!  You really think everyone's in character?  I hope you still think that after Chapter IV…*nervous*  I'm so insecure about my debut writing of Kurt—I don't want to screw him up!  I love him!  Arrrrrggghh!!  But anyway, yay, someone who knows German!  I'm so glad I didn't mess it up!  But I've been trying really hard to get the translations as correct as I can.  Let me know how the German in Chap IV is, alright?  I've got so much in there…  And yay!  Kitty finally found Kurt in "Waters"!  I can't wait to see what happens next…!

**PallaPlease****: Oh, PallaPlease!  I'm so happy you got around to reading, since I got the original idea from your fic "Angel" (which, btw, you should do a sequel of!)  And—gasp, the wonder!—you reviewed for EACH chapter!  You are such a peach!  Thank you so much for the compliments; my heads beginning to hurt with the swelling.  And I'm sooo glad you think Kurt's in character and that I captured his accent well.  I would hate to overdo it, but I also don't want to under-do it because I frikkin' love his accent at writing it is a must in my mind!  Let me know what you think of it in Chapter IV, though, okay?  At times I don't think I hinted at it enough, and I'd love a second opinion.  Heh-heh, and someone else who likes the bit with Logan and his beer.  _Sehr__ gut.  I'll have to get him with a cigar in some later chapters…_**

~~~~~~~~~@

To all of you who weren't mentioned personally, just know that I appreciated ALL of your wonderful reviews!  I just tried to address those of you who put a lot of time, depth (or overwhelming enthusiasm) into your reviews here!  *devious grin*  So hey, if you weren't mentioned and you want to be, just write a longer review next time, 'kay?  That's the ticket!

I apologize for the length of this, but I felt that a lot of you deserved some long replies!  Thanks to all of you who actually read this, and if you didn't, that's alright, too.  I'm sure you'd rather read the next chapter than all of this endless drivel, anyway…

So onto the next chapter, _mein freunds!_  I look forward to your reviews once again!

~Neko-chan


	5. IV

Carol of the Bells  * IV * 

By Nichole (Neko-chan) Johnson

Written: May 27 – 31, 2003

Rated: PG (may go up)

Pairings: Mainly Kurt/Kitty; canon pairings mentioned (Scott/Jean, Rogue/Remy)

Disclaimer: I don't own either the _X-Men: Evolution_ series or the _X-Men_ in general.  Each is the respective property of Warner Bros. and Marvel.

Author's Note: Hmmm… And here comes a partially humorous chapter—yay for me!  It's funny, 'cuz I've written a lot of crazy humor-type pieces in the past, and yet my serious pieces are always so…angsty or something.  I hope you'll all appreciate the humorous banter, though.  That's what Kurt's good for, after all, and I sooo don't want to make him angsty (it is a word!  I say so!) in this fic.  That's what Kitty's for, lol.  (Poor Katzchen…)  But I plan on starting a silly fic any day now, so I hope you'll all watch for it!  It'll probably be a Halloween fic—I know, another holiday one!  But I couldn't resist, because I had an idea come to me one day when I was really hyper and ran up the stairs to greet my family with, "I AM…the Pumpkin King!!!" which I used to do all the time early on in high school.  Ah, memories!  But I digress…

*           *           *

"Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast."

_- William Shakespeare_

*

_I'm going to bed.  I'm going to bed.  I _need_ to sleep…_

As much as she assured herself of her intentions, Kitty couldn't help but be aware of the fact that her legs were most definitely not taking her in the direction of her room.

Despite what she would have expected after Kurt's arrival, the reunion had been brief.  They had hardly had time to settle themselves once again in the comfy confines of the library when Kurt had excused himself, claiming exhaustion.  The others had immediately looked apologetic, even a little shocked with themselves at having forgotten the troubles he had gone through in getting there; and wishing him and then each other good night, had dispersed to their own rooms for some long-awaited rest.

Kitty, however, had found herself making an aimless trek through the empty halls, far too restless to let sleep claim her.  It must have been sometime after one in the morning, yet she felt completely awake.

_I should go to bed,_ she told herself once more, insistently, _I'm going to be exhausted in the morning and I need to talk to the Professor._

Instead of convincing her, her arguments only seemed to fuel her agitation.  Kitty groaned softly to herself, halting for a moment in the hallway she had been wandering idly; attempting to reorganize her thoughts and focus at last on a destination.

_The kitchen, _she thought after a moment, turning to head in that new direction.  _I left a sandwich in the kitchen._  She sighed again, resignedly; her mind on auto-pilot as she struggled to push aside the anxiety that had arisen at mention of her business with the Professor.

_I'll eat something.  Then I can go to bed_, she reasoned silently.

She stopped short upon entering the room, blinking at the unexpected light and sight that greeted her, and mentally chastised herself for not having expected it in the first place.

The blue elf didn't even bother turning from the counter, where he stood apparently preparing one of his legendary sub sandwiches.  The counter was strewn with just about every topping and food item imaginable that could be found in the large kitchen, most of which were inedible to Kitty's tastes, but the case was obviously not so with Kurt; who diligently incorporated all of it into the sandwich before him.

His tail seemed suddenly to snake out of nowhere, retrieving a plate from the far end of the counter and handing it towards her with a small flourish, wrapped loosely within its prehensile grasp.

"Forget something, _fraulein?"_

Kitty blinked, slowly coming out of her daze.  A small smile quirked at her lips as she took the plate from him, glancing at the remains of her sandwich and then him with a slightly raised brow.

"How did you know it was mine?" she countered, sounding amused.

He threw her a familiar, roguish grin over his shoulder.  "Who else but you eats that _trödel, mein liebling?_" was his wry reply, gold eyes twinkling merrily against his dark fur.

Shaking her head lightly, Kitty came all of the way into the room, taking a seat once more at the little island.

"Well apparently someone else around here, that's who," she countered righteously, though she still appeared amused despite herself.  "Where do you think I got the ingredients?"

She watched with mild interest as Kurt finished his sandwich creation and began swiftly returning the ingredients to their places, his back still to her as he moved about the room.  When he was through, he took a seat of his own at the small island beside her, his sandwich and a large glass of milk in hand.  Kitty made a show of looking disgusted, raising a brow at his choice of food in distaste.

"And you call what I'm eating junk?" she exclaimed distastefully, eyeing his sandwich with over-dramatized revulsion, just as she had so many times as a teenager.

He merely grinned at her and winked cheekily, well aware of her view on his unusual tastes, and went quickly to work on his food.  Rolling her eyes lightly on sheer principle, Kitty buried a smile in her own sandwich.

Both ate in companionable silence for sometime, Kitty watching the snow that continued to build up outside the immense windows with mindless fascination.  Beside her, Kurt quickly polished off the large sandwich and began raiding the fridge and cupboards once again, apparently still hungry.  She listened to the sounds of cupboards closing, and pots and pans clanging softly somewhere behind her with half an ear; her thoughts turning inward as she watched the swirling snow.

After several minutes, Kurt's voice broke into her thoughts, jolting her back to the present.  "Were you surprised?" he was asking her, and it seemed as if he had had to repeat himself, though he didn't sound at all annoyed with it.  His tone was decidedly mild for him, in fact; not carrying the usual energy or humor, and she turned to regard him curiously.  The smell of cooking oil hit her nose as she did.

Kitty caught his gaze, which was watching her with a slightly perplexed expression; dark brows raised questioningly.  "Hnn?  What?" she murmured absently, her blue eyes taking in the box of pancake mix and the large bowl of batter he was holding.

He smiled slightly at her, but it was soft and warm; not his usual, thousand-watt grin.  "My coming here," he elaborated.

She watched him spill batter neatly into the skillet, frowning slightly in perplexion.

"The others told you, of course," he continued, grinning slightly in his sardonic way.  "It was supposed to be a surprise, you know.  Maybe I should've mentioned it in their letters, _ja?_"  He frowned slightly, for show, glancing about for a spatula; and spotting one at the far end of the counter, retrieved it quite easily with his tail.

"I'll have to come up with some payback for that one…"

Kitty raised her brows a bit, unable to hide a small smile of her own at his remarks.  "Oh, so is that why you didn't send _me_ a letter, Fuzzy?"

Kurt shot her a devilish grin, flipping the spatula into the air and catching it easily in one hand with a flourish.  "_Nein.  I just forgot."  A regretful sigh now, and a contrite expression; and she was reminded all-too-much of what a goofball he could be.  "Can you ever forgive me, __mein Katzchen?"_

She frowned at his flippancy this time, aware of the old ploy, but didn't remark on it.  She had known him long enough to know that he always joked to avoid something, and it was obvious he was doing that now.  Instead, she swallowed the old instinct to pry—which was what she would have done in the past—and resolved herself to bring it up later, perhaps when he was less en guard about the subject.

Kitty forced a sunny smile on her face, canting her head appreciatively at his show of retribution.  "I suppose…just this once…" she replied with a sigh and equal dramatics, playing along for now.

It always surprised her how much she enjoyed playing these silly games with him.  She hadn't always; it had been a gradual sort of thing, the way she became tolerant and then joined in on his ever-facetious ways.  She just hadn't understood in the beginning, how he could be so flippant and cheerful with all of the discrimination they'd faced.  _He'd faced._

_"How can you joke at a time like this?!" _she had often found herself exploding on him, in an inexplicable burst of irritation and fury.

And more often than not, he had simply grinned at her, unfazed; perplexing her further at his unwavering optimism.  _"What better time to joke, Katzchen," he would counter, gesturing expansively with his arms.  __"You should lighten up, Kitty; not take things so seriously.  Life's not as dark as you take it to be, mein liebes_..."__

_Not as dark as you take it to be…_she repeated thoughtfully to herself.  She wished he had been there to assure her of this in the past six years.  Her outlook had gotten so dark in such a small amount of time.  So how was it she could so easily fall into the familiar pattern she had found with him in her youth?

He was holding a hand over his heart now in a show of relief at her words, and she couldn't help but submit a bit to the old urge to smile.

"_Gutt,_" he exclaimed heartily, his grin returning like sun from behind wayward clouds.  That grin had been her lifeline at times as a girl; it was something she could always rely on from him.  And it warmed her now to know it hadn't changed.

"I'll sleep easier knowing you're not out for my blood," Kurt continued with a wink, flipping the pancakes with an expert flick of the wrist.

Kitty frowned at him faintly, trying to ignore the way her stomach grumbled at the enticing smell coming from the skillet he was standing over.

"Wasn't that what you went off to do in the first place?" she pointed out sardonically.

"Food always comes before sleep, _mein freund," was his matter-of-fact reply, feigning seriousness.  "Blue Elf's most important Cardinal Rule.  Never to be broken."_

Twirling the spatula with true exhibitionistic flair, he flipped the contents of the skillet onto a plate and turned swiftly, sliding the plate down the length of the island towards her and just as quickly turning back to the hot plate, the batter already in his other hand.

Kitty blinked slowly in surprise, catching the plate before it could slide off the edge of the counter, staring at the small stack of pancakes in wonder.

"Uh…thanks," she managed after a brief pause, her stomach once again betraying her at the delectable smell wafting from the plate before her.

"_Was nicht,_" he replied dismissively, his back to her once again as he started up another batch, "Think I couldn't see you eyeing the skillet from over there like a starved animal, Katzchen?  Can't have zhat now, can we?"

She giggled, knowing he was probably right as she abandoned her seat momentarily to retrieve the syrup and milk from the refrigerator.  Still, she attempted to deny it, enjoying the banter.

"Oh, I was not, you paranoid little elf!" she retorted with a laugh, retrieving a fork from one of the drawers as well and returning to her seat.  She frowned a little at the syrup bottle, disappointed to find it wasn't Lite, and then poured a minimal amount over her pancakes anyway.

Kurt pretended to be offended, shooting her an almost scandalized expression from where he stood over the skillet, spatula poised mid-air in a comical impression of shock.  Kitty almost laughed aloud at the spectacle he made, but thought better of it; focusing instead on pouring herself a glass of milk.

"Not paranoid, _fraulein," objected the elf adamantly, gold eyes wide and innocent, "Only concerned for _mein_ Katze's health.  __Ach, but to think you've been starved all these years without my culinary skills around to sustain you…!"_

She did laugh then, feeling lighter than she'd felt in some time.  She couldn't even seem to recall what had had her so stressed and anxious earlier.

"Stop it, you goof," she exclaimed amidst her laughter, shaking her head in dismay.  "I've done just fine without the artery-clogging disasters you make with said 'culinary skills', thank-you-very-much…"

"You wound me, _fraulein."_

"Oh, would you stop that?" she laughed, taking a bite of her pancakes at last.  Her eyes widened momentarily in surprise, and then a look of amazed bliss overcame her features.  She took another more desperate bite, almost moaning with pleasure at the overwhelming flavor.

She didn't catch the flash of a smug grin on Kurt's face as she began to dig in eagerly.  Flipping several more pancakes onto his spatula with practiced ease, he held them out to her with a knowing grin.

"More artery-clogging goodness, _mein liebling?" he inquired innocently, waggling his brows at her._

Ignoring his tone but for a righteous frown, Kitty held out her plate to accept the proffered seconds.

"_Biß __mich__," she muttered cheerfully around a mouthful of pancake, and began to dig in._

*           *           *

She had polished off her fifth pancake, which was quite a feat for her, when Kurt finally turned off the skillet and took a seat beside her once again at the island, a plate piled high with pancakes in front of him.

"Kurt?"

He raised his brows at her over his plate, curious, the syrup in one hand.

She smiled softly, almost to herself, watching idly and for once not making a face of disgust as he proceeded to drown his food in the sticky substance.  "I was surprised," she admitted momentarily, trying surreptitiously to sneak a bite from his plate where the syrup wasn't quite so heavy.

He smacked her hand away absently, ignoring the playful pout she gave him.  "Hmm?  _Über was?" he prompted, digging into his food with relish._

"Seeing you," she elaborated, still pouting at him, "The others told me, but I was still pretty surprised.  I just…didn't expect you'd be coming back, I guess."

She tried once again to steal a bite from his plate, but he slid it just out of her reach, never even looking up from his food.  Kitty shot him a frustrated glare, but still he didn't look up.

"Why is that?" he asked after a moment, still focused entirely on his food.

Kitty wondered briefly if he was doing it just to annoy her, but didn't comment on it, deciding she'd rather stay on topic than start a petty argument.  She was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful.  "I don't know," she replied finally, pursing her lips.  "I guess…I expected Scott and Jean, since they've begun teaching here recently.  And Hank and Logan, of course, for the same reasons, though it was kind of iffy in Logan's case—he's not always around, but that's expected."

She was twirling her fork idling, watching the lights glint off of the metal with absentminded fascination as she talked.  A small smile tugged at her lips.  "And I got a letter from Rogue a couple of weeks ago, so I knew she'd be coming."

She could see him smiling lightly out of the corner of her eye, a wry expression in his pale eyes.  "_Ach_, the dreaded Rogue letters!" he muttered amidst bites, sounding amused.  "So you get them too, eh, Katzchen?"

Kitty gave him a disapproving look.  "Hey, what's so bad about her letters?  They're nice…"

He finally looked up from his food at her, flashing his fangs in a tight grin that somehow resembled a grimace.  "Oh, _ja_, zhey're nice…" he admitted slowly with a faint shrug, "but it's like trying to read your doctor's grocery list."

She smiled a bit sheepishly at that, recalling that it always was somewhat difficult deciphering the southern woman's scrawling handwriting.  "Okay, so maybe she doesn't have the best of handwriting…" she admitted reluctantly.

He pointed his fork at her meaningfully, eyeing her with over-done seriousness.  "Now try reading that when your first language isn't even English, _mein freund,_" he remarked pointedly, turning back to his food with the quick flash of a grin.  "I can never tell if she's wishing me good health or hoping I'll be trampled by antelope…"

Kitty rolled her eyes, but allowed herself a small laugh at his exaggeration.  "Anyway, you get what I'm trying to say.  I had no idea you were coming until the others told me."

He paused a moment, his fork in the air, and shot her an assuring grin.  "Well it wouldn't have been much of a reunion without me, don't you think?  Got to have the fuzzy elf around to keep spirits up if all of you sentimental dopes are to get together."

She pulled a wry face.  "Thanks for the concern," she remarked sardonically.  He winked at her in reply and turned back to his food once again, and the both of them fell once more into companionable silence as he finished off the huge stack of pancakes in front of him; Kitty watching him in idle boredom, deep in thought.

Kitty glanced absently at the clock on the wall.  They had been in the kitchen for over an hour now, talking and eating, and yet, they hadn't really touched on anything of real importance, she realized regretfully.  And there was so much she wanted to ask him, really.  Just where exactly had he been all these years?  What had he done?  And most importantly, what had made him decide to come back?  She had received letters from him on occasion; wishing her well, speaking idly of places he'd visited, joking about how he missed her 'wonderful cooking' and hoped she wasn't 'eating too much' in college.  And she'd sent back replies just as vague; chewing him out for insulting her cooking and weight, briefing him somewhat on the classes she was taking, remarking how she was actually passing without him around to annoy her, wishing him well.

But they had come only twice a year, at the most.  They were nothing in comparison to the years they'd spent apart; it was as if he'd been wiped completely from her life.

_It shouldn't have happened that way…_she thought regretfully, a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach.  He had been her best friend in high school, perhaps more than that…and she had let him fade unnoticed from her life just like everyone else at the Institute.  What kind of gratitude was that, she asked herself.  Had she forgotten everything she'd learned in the four years she had spent here; about herself, about life, about being different?

Or had she chosen to ignore that?

There was too much she wanted to say right now and not enough courage to do so.  She glanced sideways at Kurt once more, as if she were trying to figure him out in that glance.

It was with the air of someone who had just decided something that she spoke finally, gazing at him fully and finally drawing his eyes to her once again.

"I should've written more letters, Kurt," she exclaimed abruptly, a bit sorrowfully, looking away slowly in shame.  "We shouldn't have lost contact like that, after everything we'd gone through together."

"Same here," he replied without pause, a similar note of sorrow in his own tone.  She looked at him in surprise.  It was as if he'd been thinking the same thing.

He smiled at her warmly, a hint of regret to his eyes.  "It was just as much my fault, _liebes_.  Perhaps we both just needed to hear it from each other, _ja?_"

She peered at him searchingly for several moments, then a slow smile of her own spread across her features.  "Maybe you're right," she said finally, sighing heavily and looking relieved.

"Of course I'm right," was his firm reply, causing her to chuckle a bit.

When her laughter had died down, she peered at him sideways, growing serious once again.  "So what made you come back?"

He took another bite, seeming to ponder this for a moment; brows furrowing in an endearing expression.  After a moment he scowled lightly in frustration, turning back to his food with a mildly anxious flourish.

"_Ach_, how should I know?" he exclaimed at last with a sigh.  And suddenly he flashed her another grin.  "Just a feeling, I guess, Katzchen?  I can't really explain it…"

She stared at him for a moment, and then began nodding slowly in understanding.  "No, I understand," she assured him, looking to the window; watching the snowfall that continued unabated outside.

"What's it like over in Germany?"

The question was sudden and out of the blue; she could sense his hesitation, even without looking at him.

Finally, he made a noncommittal sort of grunt.  "Boring," was his reply, his tone bland.  She flicked a quick glance in his direction, in time to catch the watered smile that flitted across his face.

"But nice," he added after a moment's pause.  He chuckled softly, shaking his head a bit in recollection.  "I'd forgotten how much I missed it, you know?  Ze air over there…It was a nice change."

He turned to her, leaning his head on his hand.  "_Und you?  How was Illinois?" he said teasingly, his eyes laughing._

"The same," she remarked, smiling a bit.  "I missed it, too."  But after a moment, her face fell; blue eyes suddenly distant.

Kurt sighed in dismay at her mood, straightening up in his seat to peer at her with mock concern.  "_Ach,_ Katzchen, you disappoint me!" he exclaimed with mock reprisal.  "Things change; you know that!  No need to get so down about it, _ja?"_

He leaned in closer once again, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiling at her warmly.  "From your letters, it sounded like you were enjoying college; am I right?"

Kitty smiled at him appreciatively, shaking her head slightly as if to dispel her sudden change in mood.  "O-oh, yeah!  College was great," she assured him quickly, looking slightly apologetic.  "I-I'm sorry about that.  I was thinking of something else there for a moment."

He seemed to frown at her for a moment and she squirmed inwardly at his gaze, embarrassed to have arisen his concern.  The expression was brief, however, and then he was smiling faintly at her once again.  Giving her shoulder one last, assuring squeeze, he pulled his hand away and climbed to his feet.

"If you say so…" he said with a knowing sort of smile, gathering up his discarded dishes and taking them to the sink.

Kitty watched him go about cleaning up the kitchen, and it suddenly hit her how tired she was.  She could practically feel her eyelids drooping, her whole body begging for sleep.

"What do you say we finish this conversation in the morning?" spoke up Kurt from over his shoulder.  He glanced quickly at the clock, correcting himself with a grin.  "Well, at a less ungodly hour, I should say."

Kitty couldn't help but smile, getting up and taking her own dishes over to the sink.  "Sounds like a good idea," she replied, her voice decidedly weary.

Wrapping her arms around his middle, she gave him a quick squeeze, surprising him yet again.  "Thanks for the pancakes, Fuzzy," she murmured, repressing a yawn.

He patted her back affectionately.  "_Bitteschon._  Anytime, _liebchen_," he returned warmly, a note of amusement in his tone as always.  He gave her a small push in the direction of the door, sounding like a scolding father when he spoke again.

"Now get some sleep.  We've got a lot to do in the morning!"

Kitty paused in the doorway, raising a brow curiously at him.  "Oh?  I thought this was supposed to be a vacation?" she countered, amused.

Kurt's grin was one of boyish delight.  "_Ja_, it is.  _Und we've got a lot of vacationing to do.  Someone's got to put all this lovely snow to good use…"_

She gave a small laugh, shaking her head in amazement as she turned into the hall.  "I'm going to bed…" she muttered dryly back to him, already out of sight.

Still smiling to herself as he wished her goodnight in cheerful, German tones, she headed off to bed; his words lingering after her in the deserted hall like a companionable presence.

Tomorrow was definitely going to be interesting.

~          *           ~

TO BE CONTINUED…

*

**~ Glossary ~**

_trödel _– junk

_Gutt _– good

_Was nicht _– was nothing (my shortened version of _Es war nichts_, or "It was nothing")

_Biß __mich__ – Bite me (took me forever to get this one grammatically correct.  Stupid Babblefish…)_

_Über was?_ – About what?

_Bitteschon_ – You're welcome

…And now I'm going to differentiate between the different terms of endearment Kurt uses, because though we all may recognize them, it's easy to mix them up; I know I do.

_Liebes_ – dear

_Liebling_ – darling (or favorite)

_Liebchen_ – sweetheart

…I'm assuming you all know what _fraulein means, and all of the other smaller, common phrases.  And if you don't know that Katzchen means "kitty" by now, and Katze means "cat", I'd be worried, no offense…_

Well, that's all for now.  Just wanted to mention that I'm writing Kurt in the sense that he's lived abroad for the past six years, and therefore would be more inclined to slip German into his speech than usual.  His accent is also more than likely heavier (yay!).  I'll have Kitty mention it at some point, there just hasn't really been an opening to do so yet.

And the faith issue is coming up!  Don't know when, but it's coming.

Love you all for the great reviews!  Please, do keep it up!

~Neko-chan


	6. V

Carol of the Bells  * V * 

By Nichole (Neko-chan) Johnson

Written: June 8, 2003

Rated: PG (may go up)

Pairings: Mainly Kurt/Kitty; canon pairings mentioned (Scott/Jean, Rogue/Remy)

Disclaimer: I don't own either the _X-Men: Evolution_ series or the _X-Men_ in general.  Each is the respective property of Warner Bros. and Marvel.

Author's Note: Really, _really_ sorry for the wait—I mean, REALLY.  Monday, when I went to post it, FF.Net was down or something—I couldn't get into the site at all.  And yesterday, I worked a closing shift and therefore was unable to get online that night.  So it took me until Wednesday night, and I'm really sorry!  I had meant to post earlier, just know that!

Anyway, reviewer thanks are at the bottom, so if you want to read my wandered musings or just check and see if I thanked you personally, its all down there.  On with the story!

*           *           *

"The journey in between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place."

_- Barbara De Angelis_

*

She hadn't opened it for so long; had almost forgotten it even existed.  And it just lay there now, on the empty dresser, begging to be picked up.

It was a small album; the sort that most teenage girls tended to collect, with it's wild aqua-blue cover emblazoned with a cheerful, pink and orange flower in true mock-retro fashion.  She vaguely remembered picking it out herself, in her freshman year of high school.  It had been a whim; to start collecting photos.  Even now she couldn't seem to recall what had brought it on.

Kitty paused in her task, the bed half-made as she contemplated the small photo album with growing curiosity.  It had been another whim to take the album along with her.  She remembered the frantic search she had made for it, digging furiously through boxes of old belongings she had shoved far back in her closet for storage so many years before.  It had disappeared back there one day early on in college, when she had come home for Thanksgiving dinner with several boxes of her belongings in hand; trying to clear the clutter from her dorm.  And it had gone forgotten back there in her closet, along with the boxes, even after college when she'd moved into her first apartment and the boxes had once again been shoved to the back of her bedroom closet.

She hadn't even looked at it; had just thrown it in with the rest of her luggage, buried beneath her clothes in the overnight bag.  And on the plane ride over, it had been immediately forgotten in the midst of her anxiety.

But it beckoned to her now, and her task lay forgotten as she strode from the unmade bed to retrieve the little photo album from her dresser; perching herself absently on the foot of the bed as she did.  It looked nearly as new as the day she had bought it, with its glossy printed cover, but for a few tell-tale signs of wear on the corners and some scratched in pen marks on the inside cover.

Kitty couldn't help but smile with nostalgic remembrance at the very first photo that now looked up at her.  It must have been from her freshman year; she couldn't believe how young she looked in the picture, with her auburn hair bound in that ever-present ponytail she had worn in those days.  She was standing with Jean and Scott in what looked like the food court at the mall; cheeks slightly rosy at the close proximity of her one-time crush, half-turned from the camera as if the shot had been unexpectedly taken.

The next two she recognized almost immediately from the brief time she and some of the other girls from the Institute—along with Tabitha who had, at the time, been living with the Brotherhood—had started up the Bayville Sirens in a rare act of rebelliousness.  The pictures seemed to capture the feeling of the girl gang perfectly; they were wildly erratic, and full of energy.  Amara and Tabitha, with arms thrown happily about one another's shoulders, beamed wildly at the camera in one shot; while in the other, the two of them along with Jean could be seen dancing with reckless abandon amidst a small crowd at a club.

There were several more of the girls in the next few pages, some of them featuring the group in their daring Sirens costumes.  Kitty couldn't help but grin happily in remembrance as she peered at a wildly angled photo of herself in costume, blowing the camera a taunting kiss.  She definitely had fond memories of the few days she had spent living it up with the other girls.  The five of them had grown amazingly close in that short amount of time, and it had been a shame when they'd drifted apart after the Sirens were disbanded; especially Tabitha, who had continued to live at the boarding house with the Brotherhood boys.

But flipping through the album, she was relieved to notice that Tabby reappeared later on in photos, after the Institute's rebuilding when she rejoined the younger mutants for another year or so.  Boom-Boom had never been one to settle down in one place for very long.  Even when she was with the Institute, she seemed to come and go as she pleased.  In the end, everyone had been sad to see her go, though.

Especially Kurt.  Kitty recalled, with a sad smile, the trouble those two had caused.  Apart, they were both quite the troublemakers.  But together, they were a prank-pulling force to be reckoned with.  And they had been like blood-brother and sister in the end.

The few pictures she had of the two together in her album had to be some of her favorite.  _What a bunch of hams,_ she thought to herself in amusement, shaking her head in dismay at one of the photos.  Tabby had her arm around the blue mutant's neck in a near choke-hold, grinning flirtatiously at the camera as she shot it a peace sign for good show.  Kurt had obviously resigned himself to his fate, and was grinning wearily at the camera from within her grasp.

Kitty flipped through several more pages of pictures: Evan and Kurt skateboarding in the school parking lot; Scott and Jean leaning together for a photo at the lunch table; the younger mutants posing in front of the fountain.  There were a couple of Rogue trying to hide her face with a book or holding a hand up to block the camera, glaring irritably, and Kitty couldn't help but smile at the memory.

She had even caught Kurt in his favorite position in the library; perched in the corner atop one of the bookshelves, absorbed in his English textbook with his tail swinging idly over the top of the bookcase like one of those old Felix the Cat clocks.  Kitty couldn't recall how many times she had found him in that position; it had been one of his endearing little quirks that amused her to no end, and it had become a sort of goal to catch him with her camera in that pose.  She recalled now how he had looked up in surprise at the sound of the flash, face a picture of mock outrage, and then proceeded to chase her around the room demanding she give him the film; a chase which had dissolved several minutes later into a tickle fight on the floor.  The look on Storm's face as she happened upon the scene had been one of the sweetest expressions she had remembered the woman having in her four years at the Institute.  Even now, the memory of it could bring a warm smile to Kitty's face.

She turned the page once again, glancing over pictures of Scott and Jean in their graduation robes, the gang's Caribbean cruise from earlier that year, and then photos from Rogue's graduation a year later; one in which Kurt was happily mauling the graduate as she mock glared at the camera in her ceremonial robes.  The happy gleam in her gray-green eyes, however, completely gave her away.

Flipping ahead a few more pages, she came across Kurt's graduation photos.  There were quite a few compared to the other three, but Kitty felt herself frowning slightly as she looked through them, for in most of them, it was his holographic form that was smiling at the camera; and she realized sadly that his smile wasn't quite the same when seen through the projected image.

Going back through some of the other pictures that were taken on Institute grounds of him without the holographic projector; she could tell that it was true.  Something about him just couldn't be captured from beneath the guise of his holographic projector, and it saddened her to realize it.

_It's such a shame,_ she thought solemnly, _that he had to hide underneath that image for so many years.  So many people never saw the real him._

It wasn't the furry blue elf side of Kurt that she realized people had not only been missing, but the real person beneath it all that a holographic image couldn't hope to project.

Trying to push aside the sudden sense of sorrow she felt over this newfound realization, she flipped idly through the graduation pictures, until one caught her eye.  Her fingers froze on the page, gazing at the picture with a sense of renewed hope and rapt nostalgia.

It was another of Kurt's graduation photos, but this one was real; without the hologram.  Resplendent in his burgundy robes, the blue mutant was grinning his trademark, Cheshire grin in all his furry, golden-eyed glory with Rogue and Kitty standing proudly on either side of him; similar grins on their own faces as they leaned in for the photographer.

She didn't know how she could have forgotten about that photo.  For the longest time, it had been one of her favorite out of the entire album; it had spent most of her first year of college tucked in her class planner, and she had often found herself slipping it out during lectures with a nostalgic smile; her last tie to the Institute.  She couldn't remember Rogue ever looking happier and prettier than she did in that picture; her Gothic style had toned down drastically the year before, but the change in appearance had really started to show in that picture as she posed with obvious pride next to her brother.  And Kitty herself seemed to glow beside the two of them.

But out of them all, Kurt looked the happiest.  And it had remained her most treasured picture, up until she'd misplaced it along with the rest of her photos, because of that.  She was glad she had happened upon it once again.

The photo next to it of just her and Kurt was just as precious.  Out of all of her photos, it was most likely the best of the two of them together.  There was something so content about it, whereas in most of the photos the two took together, they were goofing off like a bunch of kids.  It was like she was seeing a side of their friendship that was rarely captured on film.

It reminded her of the two of them now.  But with that old sense of closeness they were yet to reclaim.

When she flipped the page over to the very last photo in the album, she found a very similar picture.  This time she was the graduate, beaming at the camera in her burgundy robes, her auburn hair loose about her shoulders underneath her cap as it so rarely was in those days.  And Kurt was standing next to her, a hand on her shoulder, the most proud and content expression on his face she had ever seen.

She continued to gaze at that last photo for several moments, lost in memories.  Then smiling softly to herself, she removed the last three photos from the book and standing, went to the dresser and tucked them gently into the frame around her mirror.

Taking one last glance at her handiwork, she went back over to the bed to finish what she had begun, still smiling contentedly to herself.

*           *           *

The mansion didn't seem quite so empty and silent today as it had the night before, as Kitty wandered the halls in idle search of her old teammates and something to do.  She had peered in the library in search of either Scott or Jean, but found only one of the students curled contentedly into one of the easy chairs; nose buried in a book.  The girl hadn't even looked up at the intrusion, and Kitty had slipped out unnoticed, heading for the rec room instead.  She hadn't found any of her old companions there, either, only a handful of students watching a movie or playing a rather lively game of foosball in the corner; a sight which had brought back memories of their own.  Scott and Bobby had been the foosball champions back in the day; it had always been an event when the two got together to challenge each other on rainy days in the rec room.

Shaking the thought away, she wandered back out into the hall, wondering where everyone could be.

She was pleasantly surprised when several minutes later, she turned the corner to spot Storm moving regally towards her.  The windrider smiled pleasantly in greeting, blue eyes lighting up delightedly at the sight of the petite brunette walking eagerly towards her.

"Why, Kitty Pryde, it's a pleasure to see you again," exclaimed the dark-skinned woman warmly, inclining her head gently.  Her abundant, white hair spilled over one shoulder, bound loosely in one of her tribal patterned scarves.  She looked as though she hadn't aged a day; indelibly ageless in her regal beauty as always.

Kitty returned the warm smile, delight dancing in her eyes at the sight of the other woman.

"Ororo!" she greeted pleasantly, embracing the storm goddess warmly.  "I didn't know you were around here!"

The mutant known affectionately as Storm chuckled gently, embracing the young woman in return with old affection.

"My child, I assure you, my place will always be with this Institute and its teachings," was her gentle reply.  She pulled away from their embrace to hold the other woman at arm's length, studying her appraisingly.

"My, but you have grown since I last saw you!  And even lovelier."  Smiling tenderly like a doting aunt, she motioned as if to cup Kitty's cheek in her hand; patting the auburn curls that framed the young woman's face in a loving gesture.

"Thank you, Storm.  You look as lovely as ever yourself."

Both women moved into stride with one another, continuing on down the hall in companionable conversation.

"I hear you've gone into computer engineering, my dear," ventured Storm pleasantly as they walked.  "How has that been going for you?"

Kitty smiled faintly.  "It's been going well, I guess.  The company I've been with for over a year now has been progressing slowly.  It looks to be a promising venture with a lot of potential for promotions."

The older woman smiled down at her proudly.  "How wonderful for you, Kitty!  I must say, all of us have been quite pleased with how well you've done for yourself since leaving the Institute.  It's wonderful to see someone with your potential excelling out there in the world."

Something in the younger woman's eyes seemed to shift, though she smiled in continued warmth up at the other woman.

"Excelling…" she murmured distantly, "Of course.  I'm glad you think so, Storm.  I owe all of you here at the Institute so much."

"My dear, you owe us nothing.  Your presence here is all that we need."

They had come to a halt once again, and Storm leaned forward to give Kitty another affectionate squeeze.  "I'm so glad you decided to join us here again, Katherine, even if only for the holidays.  You and the others have been sorely missed."

Still smiling faintly with a sorrowful edge, Kitty returned the embrace warmly and watched as the older woman turned to part.  A thought occurred to her, and she turned after the windrider hesitantly, her eyes questioning.

"Storm…"

The storm goddess turned to regard her kindly.

Kitty inclined her head self-consciously.  "Have you seen Jean or Scott around?  I was looking for them earlier but haven't been able to find them yet."

The windrider put a thoughtful finger to her chin, smiling gently.  "I believe you just missed them, then.  The two of them left about twenty minutes ago for the airport to pick up Rogue."

"Oh.  Right.  I'd almost forgotten that Rogue was supposed to arrive today."

There was a mysterious sort of smile on Storm's lips now.  "Was there anything else you wanted, my dear?"

"Yes, actually… Have you seen Kurt, then?  I haven't seen him around yet today, either, now that I think about it," was Kitty's bemused reply.

At this, Storm's smile widened with tender amusement.  "Yes, as a matter of fact.  If I'm not mistaken, he and Logan decided to check out the Danger Room earlier.  The two of them are most likely still there."

She continued to smile affectionately, arching a fine brow at the younger woman for emphasis.  "It seems a rather unconventional form of reminiscing, if you ask me, but then, Logan is known for his unconventional methods.  I pity Kurt for taking up such an offer…"

Eyes twinkling merrily, the windrider turned and disappeared back down the hall, moving with her usual regal grace.  Kitty watched her go for a moment, and then turned determinedly in the direction of the elevators, heading for the Danger Room.

*           *           *

It was the oddest feeling, watching the two men engage one another in friendly combat from where she stood in the Danger Room's control room; after so many years of college, of studying and working unobtrusively in an office.  She hadn't seen battle in all that time; hadn't lifted a hand in combat in her struggle to find normalcy in a life where she hid her mutation.  Her combat skills had more than likely gone rusty in all that time.

But she could almost feel her training coming back to her, watching the two combatants through the wide observation windows and the various video screens.  And she couldn't help but feel a bit invigorated by the sight.

They hadn't turned on any of the training simulations.  It was just the two of them, in an empty arena of sterile white and gray metal; man to man.  Neither was in uniform, either; dressed merely in T-shirts and training sweats.  It was pure skill against skill; no frills or pretenses attached, and it was obvious by the intensity with which they fought.

She had only witnessed such training sessions twice in her time at the Institute, and both times it had been between either Logan and Scott, or Logan and Bobby.  She had heard of Kurt doing some special training with the genetically altered man, just as she herself had done in her later years at the Institute; with the two of them having powers that were mainly defensive, extra training had been required in order to learn how to use them to the greatest advantage.

But she had never witnessed any such sessions.

It was chilling almost.  Logan had always been an imposing opponent; his fighting style was fierce and animalistic in its nature due to the manner of his mutation.  She had seen him fight before and had faced him in staged combat many times.

It was Kurt that surprised her.  She had never realized just what he was capable of until now, and she was in awe.

It was clear that while Kitty had grown severely lax in her combat skills, Kurt had been quite diligent in continuing his training.  He was fighting with a sword, something Kitty had only seen him do a few times in high school, and it was obvious that he had improved greatly since then.  His movements were graceful and fluid; the sword becoming yet another extension of his body as he parried and thrust; easily blocking his opponent's adamantium claws with the flashing blade.

Whereas Logan's movements were fierce and wildly furious, Kurt's were smooth and agile; his acrobatic skills opposing the other's sheer willpower and ferocity surprisingly well.  There was no teleportation in this battle, only an intricate, dancing form of combat that Kitty could only describe as fiercely beautiful.  With sheer liquid grace, the blue mutant somehow managed to match this fierce opponent move for move, despite their differing methods.

Kitty found herself unwilling to disturb their battle.  Instead she continued to watch in rapt amazement on the observation screens.  Parry and thrust, parry and thrust; whirl.  Logan rushed and Kurt caught his claws on the edge of his blade, using the other man's momentum to toss his attack aside; attempting to throw his opponent off of his feet.  But moving with him, Logan managed to maintain his footing and bring one of his legs about in a startlingly vicious kick that aimed for the younger mutant's midsection; attempting to wind him.  Twisting his blade ever so slightly so that it wedged between the adamantium claws, Kurt flipped gracefully backwards over Logan's arm, avoiding the blow and nearly taking Logan down in the process.  Then disengaging himself, the acrobatic mutant leaped nimbly into a powerful whip-kick.  Amazingly enough, he caught his opponent by surprise with the swiftness of his attack, and his kick struck Logan viciously upside the head.

Kitty knew that for Logan, such an attack would hardly be felt.  But the swiftness and viciousness of it still amazed her, and she couldn't help but feel impressed all over again with her friend's apparent skill.

The fight continued in that vein for several more minutes; each opponent scoring occasional hits on one another but neither gaining any real ground.  For all appearances, the two mutants were fairly equally matched.

But after Logan scored a particularly rough blow on the younger mutant, the battle apparently ended.  Both men stood or sat in momentary silence, trying to regain their breaths in lieu of such a fierce work-out; and then Logan, retracting his claws with an air of finality, extended a hand to Kurt in a show of camaraderie and helped him to his feet.

Kitty had already left the observation booth, phasing quickly through the floor and hurrying towards the pair.

Grinning gruffly at the younger mutant, Logan clapped Kurt roughly on the shoulder; she could see him muttering words of encouragement and pride to his old student.  Still puffing slightly with exertion, the younger man beamed up at his instructor, and as he did, his eyes traveled over the other's shoulder to light on the slender brunette hurrying towards them.

"_Guten tag_, Katzchen," he greeted with a bright grin, raising his hand in greeting.  "Did you sleep well after our premature breakfast?"

He wiped his brow absently with the back of his hand, leaning wearily on his sword.  Logan glanced from him to Kitty while wiping the sweat from his own brow, stepping back slightly to allow for the young woman to join them.  He inclined his head at her in his gruff equivalent of a nod.

"Hey, there, half-pint," he greeted, still slightly breathless.  Glancing unobtrusively between the two of them once more, he made as if to leave.

"'M gonna' hit the showers," he grumbled with a pointed glance at Kurt.

He shot Kitty one last glance, a smile hovering over his lips, and strode unhurriedly away.  Kitty watched him go momentarily, almost regretfully, while Kurt tussled a hand through his damp hair in wry contemplation.

"Not a bad idea, that…" murmured the German mutant wryly.  Then he turned to grin at Kitty once more, still leaning lazily on the butt of his sword.

"So, I gather _mein Katzchen had front row seats, __ja?"_

Kitty jerked her gaze back around from the door, her expression once again turning to that of impressed awe.

"My God, Kurt, I never knew you had it in you!" she exclaimed with amazed delight, her tone hushed as if afraid someone would overhear.

Kurt pretended to glance himself over, confused.  His eyes lit on his sword, pulling away from where he'd been leaning on the weapon to gesture at it questioningly.  "What, you mean the sword?  Naw, it's an heirloom—not the legendary, 'from-the-chests-of-maidens' sort."

She raised her brows archly at the joke, arms crossed from simple habit.  "Not that, silly.  The whole fight.  I've never seen you fight like that before."

Shouldering his sword with a small flourish, he laughed good-naturedly.  "My _gut fraulein_, you've never seen me fight," he corrected with jauntily lifted brows, shooting her a cheeky wink.

She rolled her eyes at him and grinned in return.  He then turned to head in the direction of the lockers and she moved to follow.

"You've gotten good with the sword," she commented absently, clearly impressed.  "I'd forgotten that you'd convinced Logan into getting you started on fencing.  If I remember, it was quite the battle, too."

He grinned wryly.  "_Und_ that was _before_ we got to the sword training…"

Kitty laughed, raising her eyes thoughtfully as they walked.  "What was it…like three or four months I think of you sucking up to him?"  Another laugh, as she shook her head wryly at the memory.  "I swear, I'd never seen you do so many unpleasant chores _willingly_…!  You must've waxed the X-Jet everyday for a month!"

Kurt grimaced in reply, rotating his right arm tenderly in reflection.  "Twice some days, actually," he remarked, "Ze elbow likes to remind me about it when it rains…"

The twinkle in his eyes caused her to laugh yet again.  "Ah.  Those were the days, right?" she remarked slyly.

He sighed dramatically in response.  "Ah, yes.  Those were the days, Katzchen.  What I wouldn't do for another one of Scott's rousing battle speeches or _Herr_ Logan's wonderful early morning double-duty training sessions!"

"Okay, okay!" she exclaimed hastily, raising her palms slightly in surrender.  She shot him a sideways glance.  "What about one of my infamous muffins?"

The blue mutant pretended to grimace, grinning forcefully.  "_Ach, always for __mein liebling's muffins.  How could I resist?"_

Sensing the frown of disappointment on his companion's face, he forced a real smile onto his features.  "Now, for some of the lovely, _Frau Monroe's baked apple pie… Zhat, __mein Katzchen, I would walk a thousand miles for…"_

Kitty followed his sudden gaze in the direction of the door, alerted as well by the sound of footsteps on the smooth floor, to find Storm striding calmly towards them.

"And you would walk a thousand more, _Herr Wagner?" continued the windrider with pleasant amusement as she moved to join them, inclining her head quizzically at Kurt._

He shook his head at her lightly in dismay.  "_Ach, you took the words right out of my mouth," he murmured with mock disappointment._

"Well I apologize," she returned graciously, blue eyes twinkling at the banter.  "But I can assure you that your compliments do not go unappreciated."

She turned then to include Kitty, her expression growing more serious as she glanced between the two of them; but her eyes were still warm with affection.  "I came to let you both know that Scott and Jean have arrived with Rogue from the airport," she began, an eagerness to her tone.  "And they've brought another guest…"

Kurt and Kitty both shared a glance, then turned back to the storm goddess, looking both eager and curious.

Kurt grinned wickedly, stretching his neck lazily.  "And I suppose you don't intend to tell us who this mystery guest is and would rather us die from curiosity, am I right, _fraulein?_"

Storm smiled sweetly and inclined her head in acknowledgment.  "Of course," was her nonplus reply in all innocence.  She turned to Kitty, gesturing towards the door.  "They're gathering right now in the library, if you wish to greet them.  Kitty, would you care to join me?  I suspect Kurt wishes to tidy himself up before greeting his sister…"

"Are you kidding?  Rogue loves 'sweaty fur' hugs the best…"

Snorting lightly at the joke, Kitty went to follow Storm, shooting the jocular mutant a wry glance over her shoulder.  "Uh-huh.  Good luck with that venture, Fuzzy…"

With that, she followed the windrider out of the training room, a feeling of giddy delight rising within her at the thought of reuniting with the southern woman.

~          *           ~

TO BE CONTINUED…

*

Hmm.  No "Glossary" for this chapter—all of the German has either been previously used or is relatively commonly heard of enough to decipher for oneself.  So I won't belittle you all by putting a measly Glossary in this section that translates words like _"ja", and __"gut"—it would just be too sad…_

I will, however, comment on some references made.  Part of me wants to leave them for all of you to decipher—no wait, you know what?  I will do that!  I wanna' see if any of you bother pointing out references to me in your reviews, and then I'll talk about it in the 'excess area' at the end of the next chapter.  Hmm, not a bad idea…  (Or its just me being incredibly lazy.  Meh.)

Uuurrrrgggh…So tired!  I spaced-out today while going through some old comics of mine in search of inspiration.  I feel more bogged down than inspired.  I think it was the whole 'lack of productivity' thing…  I have this terrible obsession with needing to feel as though I've accomplished something in a day—I hate going to sleep thinking, "Gawd, I didn't do ANYTHING productive today!"  I'll mean to, and then I'll wander into my room to get something and get distracted—sometimes it's a book I haven't read in a while, or maybe a comic; sometimes a TV show.  And then it's two hours later and I realize I just wasted precious writing time.  DAMNIT!!  Why am I such a short-attention-span-driven SHEEP?!!

Okay, I've wandered… This section is supposed to be for addressing my reviewers.  Bleeaargghh.  But I'm so sleepy and blah-blah.  How about THANKS EVERYBODY FOR REVIEWING, I'M GLAD YOU LIKE THE FIC, ROCK ON, AND I LIKE TOSTITOS—ESPECIALLY THE PEPPERONI ONES?!!  I think that should be sufficient.  G'night…AAAGGGGHHHH!!!  WHAT IN GOD'S—??!!  Damn you, Conscience, damn you!!  I know it's you Satan!!  I know it!!

*sigh* So I guess I'll be thanking you all anyway…  I'm going to have to be reeeeally selective, though, because there just isn't enough room to thank you all as much as you deserve—the few of you that read this boring crap, anyway only do it reluctantly so I want to try and keep the pain to a minimum.  Just know I love you all…Now sit still and pay attention:

**Kiki:**  I continue to love and adore you.  You are like my greatest fan, and vice-versa—I don't know if that is a good thing.  You should be worried, I think.  Anyway, the more I hear from you, the more I realize you are frighteningly just like me.  By your reviews, we obviously think alike.  Most of all, thank you for reading the 'Thank You' chapter—that takes frikkin' dedication, because I am one frikkin' long-winded be-hatch.  I hope you'll keep up the wonderful support!  (And post the next chapter of "Decisions", damnit!)

**Min-kat:** Yay, another person who likes the use of German!  Yeah, but I tend to overdue it sometimes because I'm going through this weird stage where I love the language far too much.  _Is gut, ja._  No…no, not really.  I did that for awhile with Japanese, and now its German.  I'm seeing a horrible trend…

**Pogue Mahone:**  Gah!  Don't die!  You got Chapter V!!  You got it!!  Don't go into the light—your big, eloquent words of complimenty-goodness are far-too appreciated for you to move on to the ether over something as undeserving as my fic!  (Translation: Yes, more!!  My head hasn't quite reached exploding size yet!)  And, um…sorry I couldn't be so eloquent myself in thanking you.  I'm feeling really…weird right now.  I'm gonna' say 'rad' because it makes my crazy, blonde best friend happy.

**Selene:** Ohhhhhh…  I thought that may've been what you meant by being confused.  Um, sorry?  But I couldn't figure out a better way of implying that the scene was a flashback until it ended, when Kitty wonders 'why she recalled that at that moment' (or whatever the blahdie-blah I wrote there).  Yeah, I know; the difference in eye color is kind of…annoying.  I feel sort of blasphemous writing that her eyes are blue sometimes, but they are in Evo so I feel I should stay true to that.  Besides, if I start playing around w/their appearances, everyone would get all confused and not know WHAT to picture anymore.  I have this thing about wanting my readers to picture the characters the way I picture them; I know its impossible, but I try to accomplish that as much as possible.  So if the story gets kind of…bogged down by useless descriptions of how a character looks in a specific scene, you'll know why.  And you can call me on it, but I'll just tell you to 'f'-off and ignore you.  (j/k)  Hmmm?  So you're hoping I'm gonna' put Remy in here?  I have to admit, I was torn whether to do so or not for stupid reasons I won't go into at this time, but… You'll see what I decided to do in the next chapter, if you haven't guessed it already.

**Topazera:** I'm glad you're liking it, TZ.  And about the Kurt-Scott thing…well, I haven't specifically planned out any scenes between the two yet and I'm a little wary to do so, simply because I don't think I can relate to Scott's character enough to write him properly.  So I sort of try to steer clear of him in a fic as serious as this.  But if you want to see some of that—Kurt 'lightening' Scott up—you should check out my other fic (if you haven't already) "Why, Oh Why?"  Since it's meant to be humorous, I decided to have a go at writing a 'Scott-centered' chapter, which delivers a bit on that Scott-Kurt relationship you were talking about.  (I'm referring to chapter 2, which may or may not be posted yet at the time that you're reading this.)  Anyway, I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing!  You've got some great things to say!  (Yay!  My head's slowly yet surely on its way to exploding from all the complimentary goodness!)

**Serenity's Wings:**  Hmm, I'm gonna' have to say much of the same thing to you as TZ up there: check out my other fic.  As of yet, I don't plan on any of the Brotherhood appearing, but there is a high-probability of some of the 'New Mutants' appearing for the same reasons that Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue have been called back to the mansion.  Just a hint, but this fic is meant somewhat as a tie-in to all of the _X-Men universes; therefore, characters from the original comics and animation will most likely be involved some way or another._

**LeDiz:** Yay!  LeDiz loves me!  I send cyber cakes to you, _mein freund!  ^_^  Heheheh, I have you in suspense…  Serves you right for all the horrible things you've done to Kurty and Kitty in "I always do"!!  But seriously—naw, screw being serious!  WAFFLESSSSSSS!!!!!  WORSHIP MY NAVEL, CHEESE-DWELLING MUFFINS!!  LIARS, ALL OF YOU!!  YOUR HANGNAILS ARE MINE!!!  Ahem.  Sorry—reverting to my alter-ego, there: Happy Noodle Boy.  I was engrossed for far-too long in my beloved _Johnny the Homicidal Maniac_ graphic novel today…  Hmmm…LeDiz, where the hell was I?  Oh, yes…Yes, yes I am evil.  I've been told my real father is Satan, but one can never believe one's younger sister when you've just called her boyfriend a 'retarded ass-monkey'.  (And don't worry; Kurt will get all 'life story' with us at some point.  I myself am rather curious as to what he's been up to, y'know.)_

**Triple X:** WHAAAATT??!!  It was fluffy?!  I had no idea…  God damnit!  I'll have to be sure to have more brutal fight scenes in some upcoming chapters.  *in her notes, scribbles an arrow in between a clutter of fluffy scenes, labeled 'Big-Ass Fight Scene'*  Hmm, that should be adequate…*grins*

**Rissa:** Whoa—DUDE!!  I actually inspired someone to not only review, but to SIGN-UP in order to do so!  _Whoa._  Just…whoa.  Never thought I'd see the day…  I'm so totally stoked that you did that and that you're enjoying this that much!  Thank you so much!  What an uplifter!  *lol*  Hmm, and while I didn't listen to Christmas songs while I was writing it, (I'm a bit of a humbug like that) I did listen to some really beautiful classical—mainly choral symphonies, like Mozart's "Dies Irae" from his "Requiem", and the hauntingly beautiful "Sanctus" by Schubert—as well as my most recent favorite movie scores; being _X2, Ah! My Goddess the Movie_, and other random ones I dug out of my collection.

OMG, but the _A! MGtM music reminds me so much of Evo for some reason—maybe it's just because I've read and written so much Evo fiction to it, but to me, it captures the essence of Evo fiction so well!  Not to mention the odd jazz albums I threw into the mix—can't leave those out.  It's just so soothing writing to the gentle sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Miles Davis…_

**PallaPlease:** Sorry, hon.  You definitely must've fallen on your ass there…  But I'm glad I gave you such warm-fuzzies, and I hope I'm able to continue doing so.  You're reviews always give ME warm-fuzzies, so I shall try to return the favor… ^_^  And what sorts of dirty thoughts are you getting about that cigar, missy?  Sheesh, you're like **LeDiz and the awful 'tail innuendo'…!**

(Urrrgggh… getting…so…tired…!  Damn you, Satan!  Quit pushing me—I'm goin', I'm goin'…!)

**SpikeyAngel:** Eh, it's not juvenile—especially not in the context you wrote it.  I'm always sitting in eager anticipation for them to kiss when I read Kurtty fics, too.  So I really am sorry to make you all wait.  But just like the Buffy/Spike relationship on BtVS, this thing requires careful planning and development in my opinion.  But, oh, don't worry—it will be in there… Hell, I've been daydreaming the scene up for over 2 weeks now!  _It will be in there._  (And I'm a terrible writer for not leaving you all in suspense.  I spit on myself!)

**RedLion:** Ehhh, you're somewhat right and somewhat wrong, RL.  But since both of them didn't return for one reason only, no—they weren't.  But some of their reasons hold distinct parallels to one another's.  _Ach, it's all so complicated trying to allude to it yet not give it away when I'm explaining this…!  Suffice to say, Kurt and Kitty are both very different in many ways, but are both in somewhat of the same place in their lives; and their reasons for returning reflect that.  Aaagh, how did I suddenly turn from bizarre insanity to existential musings?!  I must REALLY need sleep at this point…_

**Kaminarimon:** Sorry, can't comment right now.  The swelling has become far too severe…

(SHUT UP, SATAN!!  THIS IS YOUR FAULT, AND YOU KNOW IT!!!  And stop telling me to call you 'Pepito'!!)

And last of all, to **Kat, and those other few of you who requested that I e-mail you when this fic is updated, please go to my Profile page.  There you will find a link to my mailing list, which is simply a way for you to receive notification when my fiction is updated.  Joining is quick, easy, and utterly pointless except for the fact that you receive an e-mail every blue moon letting you know that I updated, along with my musive ramblings.  I wouldn't worry about receiving excess mail, because basically I'm the only one posting on the list, and I only do it when a fic has been updated or something pertaining to that.**

So anyone wishing to receive instant notification of my fic updates by e-mail, just sign up for my mailing list.  There.

Ugh.  Now I am going to try and get some sleep… Neko needs sleep.  Like donuts and that crappy powdered coffee stuff.  OMG, this 'f'-er is long.  Jeezus.  I so need to shut up once 'n awhile…

Good night, all!  Happy reading and stuff like that.

~Neko-chan


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